


Confessions of Love and Loss (Reworking!)

by DoctorCharlie



Series: Charlie's Collection of Confessions [1]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: 80's Music, Anxiety, Bad Puns, Deepthroating, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family Bonding, Fluff and Smut, Foreplay, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Jewish Holidays, Loss of Parent(s), Love Confessions, Multi, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, OOCish, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Grumps and Friends Added Later, Panic Attacks, Pansexual Character, Safe Sane and Consensual, Tags Contain Spoilers, handjobs, serious talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-01-08 22:48:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12263652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorCharlie/pseuds/DoctorCharlie
Summary: (Currently being reworked)Dan hasn't been giving his usual pep at the Grump sessions for the last few weeks and it was even worse in the last recording. Arin decided to call him out while recording to see what he had to say for himself. No one expected Dan to have a confession of love to announce to the world. Either it will end in happiness or heartbreak.Dan AvidanxOC. NSFW. Tags added as chapters are added. Spoilers in tags. Will update sporadically. The Grumps are their own people and this is based off of characterized versions of them.





	1. Recording a Confession (Dan POV)

**Author's Note:**

> (Hey Everyone, as of 11/29/17 the first two chapters are going to be going through a major rework. I feel like it could be so much better and I would rather get those fixed before posting the fourth chapter)
> 
> This is a collection of stories that fit together as a whole.
> 
> Warnings: The Grumps are their own people who do not mind fanfictions, and this is based off of characterized  
> versions of themselves with as much timeline accuracy as managed. Some of the timeline is altered to fit the story.  
> Dan Avidan x OC  
> Anything in italics is internal thoughts to that character the chapter is focused on.  
> NSFW  
> This story will have a heavy amount of smut. Chapters with adult content will have an asterisk in the title. * It will be a fic with lots of kink talk, safe consensual sexual practices, and openness to other sexualities. I raised the rating again back to explicit.  
> Only one person has read through the first drafts outside of me. Some are not beta read. Forgive any mistakes. Please call out major issues if you see them in comments.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan hasn't been giving his usual pep at the Grump sessions for the last few weeks and it was even worse in the last recording. Arin decided to call him out while recording to see what he had to say for himself. No one expected Dan to have a confession for the world to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Italics_ are for internal thoughts of the POV character.

“It is going to be okay. It is all going to be ok. There is nothing scary about seeing your friend. Your friend that you’re in love with.”

This mantra was said over and over by Daniel Avidan to himself. Tonight was the moment of truth and to be honest he was terrified. Dan stood in the entrance hallway of his parent’s home. Cold air seeped it’s way in from the old windows tickling his sock covered toes. Feet tapped rapidly on the wood flooring, hands twitching in his jacket pockets. He could hear his family preparing for dinner since they had already lit the menorah. Dan had stopped in before the last Game Grumps Live show of the year to celebrate as much of Hanukkah as he could with his family and then onto New Years celebrations with his friends. Only one more guest was to arrive. He was waiting impatiently for a knock on the door. This night was to either end in a miracle or a tragedy. Dan thought back to two weeks ago and his recorded confession that was to change his life.

**\--Two Weeks Ago—Grump Room—**

Arin cheered as he bashed another zombie in the head. “Take that bitch!” he roared and shook his controller excitedly. Dan chuckled softly next to Arin. It had been another exciting episode of Dead Rising 2 to film. They were already on hour 2 and had almost two weeks worth of backfill recorded. The crunch was happening as they had more Game Grumps Live performances and Dan was going to spend time with his family. All of the other Grumps were going to be travelling to various destinations as well. Dan laughed and joked when appropriate, but his heart wasn’t in these last 12 episodes. Arin was trying his damnedest to keep the pace up and goad Dan into responding, but it wasn’t working. Dan checked his phone absentmindedly waiting for a reply from a friend. He could see Arin watching him from his spot.

“So Dan. Who’s the girl?” Arin asked it so nonchalantly mid-episode.

Dan jumped, fumbling his phone, and sputtered for a second before responding, “Wha-? What do you mean? There’s no girl.” He glanced up at Arin sheepishly. Arin smirked back then continued with the zombie massacre. He had equipped Chuck with a chainsaw to clear the crowd.

“Oh? I mean then what’s got you so hung up on your texts, huh? Do the lovelies not deserve your undying attention?” Arin retorted fucking with him.

Dan scoffed and then got quiet for a minute pondering whether he should reveal what was on his mind. It could either end horribly or end up helping him. _Would the lovelies support him if he spoke his feelings or would they reject his plans?_

“I guess you’re right, Arin. They do deserve a better performance from me.” Dan sighed and shrugged. It was better to come clean to Arin and everyone in the end. He didn’t want to hide from his emotions anymore.

“Say what?” It was Arin's turn to sputter. He turned away from the game just long enough to be violently murdered by a horde. “Shit! Dan, you killed me!”

“Sorry dude.” Dan glanced at Arin with an apologetic look. “I need to tell you that I have a confession for you and the Lovelies. It will explain why I haven’t been into the game the last few episodes.”, Dan gripped his phone tightly as he powered through his words. _It would be okay_. He had to do this, “There is a woman involved.”

“Oooo.” Arin paused the game and turned his attention to Dan, “Are you sure you want to talk about this right now?” He studied Dan seriously as this type of topic wasn’t often one they would bring up. They would talk about past relationships and ridiculous sex topics, but serious conversations on their current relationships had always been off of the table.

Dan nodded and waved a hand to continue, “I am one hundred percent sure, Arin. I need to say this aloud so that I will have accountability for when I see her again.”

Arin watched Dan intensely. He wiggled the analog sticks wildly to scroll through the map. Dan didn’t often talk about his actual private life to the Lovelies as people have tried to be too involved previously. Dan fiddled with the hem of his jacket and opened his mouth to quickly close it. He frowned at Arin and Arin returned with a wag of his brows.

“So…?”

“IMINLOVE.” Dan yelled out the words. He could see the audio spike on one of the technical monitors. _Sorry, Matt and Ryan_. His face started to heat up and he could tell he was most likely blushing. Arin grinned at him in an insane manner. His smile got larger each passing second.

“Oh? Do tell us, Dan. How long have been in love with this woman?” Arin unpaused the game to start trying to save a poor civilian. This would be entertaining at least as most of their civilian saves ended up horribly.

Dan sighed and leaned back into the Grump couch. One part has been said and it wasn’t so horrible, _how bad could the next part possibly be?_

“Twenty years.”

“What? Are-are you serious?” Arin whipped his head back around letting the zombies get to the woman he was attempting to save. “Motherfucker! Dan!”

Dan chuckled at that outburst and smirked at Arin. “She’ll be alright. You can kill her again later.” He joked. Arin glared at him, but smiled at the same time. “And yes, I've been in love with this woman for twenty years. We grew up together and dated in our teens to mid twenties, and again in our late twenties. It’s just never been the right time to be together mostly due to me being a complete asshole when I was younger. She’s still a great friend and I love her just as much as I loved her at 17.”

Arin was quiet listening to Dan, haphazardly playing the game. “Why are you confessing now?” He asked as Chuck ran straight into a horde spinning in circles.

Dan ran his hands through his hair absentmindedly. _Why was he doing this?_ He remembered the texts that him and the woman of his affections had been passing back and forth. It had gone past their usually flirting that they did when he was out of town. He still vividly remembered her smile from that October.

“I'll be seeing her soon when I visit my family. She’s always at every event we have. I guess I'm tired of hiding it. I'm tired of not being with her another day. If she doesn’t love me back it will hurt, of course, but maybe we both can finally move on from this. Maybe I can have closure.”

“Aww that’s sweet, but I mean why on the show? Trust me I’m here to support you, but what do you mean by accountability?” Arin giggled at the end of his sentence as a zombie was speared on a pike.

“It’s to make sure I tell her when I'm there or she’ll hear me say it on here first. She watches all of our shows. I’m admittedly a coward when it comes to confessions of love.” He explained with a small smile. She never missed an episode and always updated Dan on what she thought of them that day. Even when he didn’t hear from her for months, she would write him a report on the hilarious content they put out and they would talk for hours about it.

“Okay, that makes sense. So what’s her name?” Arin caught himself and face palmed, “Uh, only if you want it out there obviously.”

“Yeah, no. I'll use her nickname. That’s harder to find. Her name is Charlie.”

“Cute. What does she do?”

“She’s a doctor for children.”

“Oh shit. Aiming high I see, Dan. So she’s a pedi- pediatrician? Is that right? Why have I never heard about her?” Arin sassed at him. He died again violently, “Fucking bullshit! Sorry, go on.”

Dan laughed louder and slapped his knee. That death was pretty hilarious. It was the first time he laughed that hard in days. Admitting his feelings had already made his heart become a million times lighter.

“You totally have. Many of my stories over the years included her without naming her. She never wanted a presence online so my family and friends never posted pictures of her or used her name in stories.” Dan explained .

“She sounds like she’s always been part of your life.” Arin stated.

“She always has been, man. Charlie used to help me when I was at my worst moments in my early twenties and thirties even though I had fucked up our relationship so many times. She’s always been emotionally available for me even when I wasn’t for her. I owe so much of who I am to her.” Dan sighed placing his chin upon his fist that was resting on the edge of the couch. Arin grimaced at Dan being so hard on himself. He was never this self hating and it hurt to hear himself not be optimistic. 

“What did you do that messed it up so badly? I mean you don’t have to mention it at all, but geez it’s sounds horrid.”

“I do, dude. I need her to know that I know what went wrong. I cheated on her when I was 23 right after we finally started getting serious. I was more interested in getting high and messing with friends than supporting her aspirations at med school. I was an absolute asshole and I admit that. Lovelies, never do to someone like I did to her. Charlie deserved the world, but I was a dumb drunk stoned piece of shit. We tried again in our late twenties, but due to shitty circumstances we decided we weren’t ready to put our relationship first. We needed to work on ourselves. It was a smart move in the end because it lead to me joining Skyhill, then onto my improv class, which lead to meeting Brian, then NSP, and the rest is history.”

Arin paused the game again and looked at Dan grimly. “You were a kid. Like you said, people make horrible choices when young and it happens.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I've come to terms with what I did. I'll fully admit my faults. I've worked so hard to be a better human. I’ve fought for my dreams and now that they’ve happened I think I'm in a stable and sober enough place to try again. If it doesn’t work out between us at least I tried.”

“So what do you have to say to Charlie since we’re out of time?” Arin glanced at the timer and they were bordering on 10 minutes. He would have loved to keep talking about her, but Arin was right in keeping it to this episode.

Dan sighed and cleared his throat before speaking again, “Charlie. I'm in love with you. I am still in love with you. I want to prove to you that I'm a better person now and I want to work towards a healthy relationship together. I'm really hoping I didn’t shoot myself in the foot here and embarrass myself internationally, but you needed to know and I can’t hide it anymore. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I'm in a fuzzy haze that I need to get out of. So yeah, when this airs I should be there with you and my family. I'll update you Lovelies with the results once we get back from GG Live and the holidays.”

“Okay, that’s a wrap all. Ready to get back to zombie killing in the next episode?” Arin asked Dan.

“I’m ready.”

“Next time on Game Grumps maybe Dan won’t be taking my spot as Grump.” Arin hit the remote for the timer and audio. He turned to Dan who was hiding his face in his hands.

“Holy fuck dude. You are so love sick.” Arin smiled at his not so Grump partner, hand patting him on the leg.

“I really am, Arin. I'm losing my fucking mind.” Dan continued to run his hands nervously through his hair. _What the fuck had he just done?_ He panicked for a second realizing he told the whole internet that he was in love with his old friend. He saw Arin make a gentle face because he probably looked crazed. He hid his face in his hands again.

“What’s made it so bad lately? I mean you’ve been off for months now.” Arin asked sincerely.

Dan removed his hand to show off a very red blush on his face.

“Uh. We have been talking over FaceTime more often. Sometimes we flirt. Sometimes I send her sexy photos and she sends some back. It’s a weird phase we’re at. Usually by now she would have started limiting contact and we would let it taper off, but I think it’s for real this time. ” He mumbled it softly, “She also may have surprise visited me back in October and I may or may not have brought her into my room for the night. I fell back in love with her before the sun rose.”

Arin narrowed his eyes and cocked an eyebrow, “So what makes you think she doesn’t love you back if you two are so intimate already? Like is this just a friends with benefits thing?”

Dan groaned and picked on his favorite Rush shirt. “We didn't sleep together if you're implying that. I don’t know man. It’s not like I can just go see her whenever when she lives in Jersey. We chat on Facebook, Instagram private messages, and FaceTime. I’ve been calling her baby even more which fucks us both up. I'm so screwed with how much I’ve fallen back in love her.”

Arin smirked at Dan's lovesickness. “You really are. So show me a picture of your lady love.”

Arin made a give me motion with his hands. Dan rolled his eyes and smirked back, but pulled his phone out and hit the Facebook app. He typed in Charlotte Schön into the search bar, hit her profile, and handed it to Arin. Arin greedily snatched the phone and scrolled through her page. Although she hated being on the internet she still had a Facebook to keep in touch and for ‘work bullshit’ as she explained it.

“She’s so cute and professional. Gosh, her hair is as much of a curly mess of a mane as yours, but lighter. Fuck those eyes are gorgeous. Charlotte Schön, sounds German. You said you two grew up together?”

“Yes, it’s German. Her grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Berlin that moved here after the second World War. They moved next to my maternal grandparents who had similar histories and background. My grandmother Ruth, my grandfather Bernard and her grandfather Hans worked together in the science fields. Her grandparents raised her, so we’ve known each other since we were babies. She and I lived next door to each other for most of our lives.” Dan explained Charlie’s family to Arin.

“So you two have known each other forever? That’s so sickeningly romantic. I don’t mean this in a weird way, but she looks like she’s pretty young. Is she really your age?”

Dan scoffed at Arin. “Yes, she’s a little less than a year younger than me. Are you saying she should look older? She’s fucking gorgeous. I always joked that she had a baby face, but it’s been working for her.” Dan paused for a moment a old thought coming back to him. “I just remembered something embarrassing.” Dan rubbed the back of his neck.

Arin side eyed Dan. “Go on.”

“I promised her if we were both single still at 35 we would get married when I was drunk one time in our late twenties. I don’t think she remembers that. I'm a few years too late with proposing though.” Dan replied smirking to himself at his wild promise. It wasn’t the first time he promised her that either.

“Well you have to marry her if you made a promise, Dan. Can’t make promises of love if you can’t keep them.” Arin joked fucking with Dan again, “So…What’s her hobbies? Do you two get along in general?”

“Oh yeah, she plays video games. She loves music, plays guitar and sings now last I heard. We both watch the same shows. She loves anime just as much as you and Ross. She’s super fucking smart so I don’t have a chance against her in trivia, but I try. Her humor is just as fucked up as mine. She does have some weird hobbies, but who doesn’t? I mean I sing about dicks and boobs for a living.”

“Go, marry her now. I'm serious. I better hear when you come up for the NYC show that you two ran off and got married and plan on having the cutest babies.” Arin eyed Dan's phone for a long amount of time. Dan was mumbling to himself when Arin returned his gaze to his best friend. “What? What did I say that’s got you so upset?” Dan mumbled into his hand again and turned away. “What, Dan? I can’t hear you.”

“I would love to marry her and have millions of kids, but I'm not so sure she would be up for that anytime soon. I'll just be happy if she likes me back.” He smiled to himself. “If you ever want to know more about her, Brian could give you tons of info too. They hung out a lot when he still lived in Jersey.”

Dan noticed his phone light up from across the couch. Arin's face twisted into a devilish grin.

“Oh look who’s messaging you now.” He turned the phone to show off Charlie’s message to Dan.

_-Yes, of course I'll be there. I'll never miss Hanukkah with the family.-_

Dan reached for his phone, but Arin turned away quickly holding it out of reach.

“Please, Arin. Don’t do anything stupid. Please.” Dan begged.

He tried reaching it from his spot again, but Arin held it way over the other end of the couch.

“I'm not doing anything. I'm definitely not typing back.” He was totally typing back as Dan could hear the clacking noise that indicated text being written. He lunged at Arin throwing himself over his friend still reaching for the phone. Arin giggled and lifted a knee up to protect himself. Dan tried his best to reach it, but Arin was using the mic stands as a leverage to keep him away. Arin made eye contact with him only to stick his tongue out childishly.

“I fucking swear, Arin. I am getting angry. Give me my phone.” Dan rose his voice slightly as he could feel his blood pressure rising. Arin furiously typed away, only to tap it one last time before handing the phone back. Dan pulled himself up and off Arin back into his corner. He didn’t catch Arin's smirk until after he checked his texts.

_-I am looking forward to seeing you. Miss you, baby. :heart emoji:-_

“Motherfucker.” Dan growled to himself and glared at Arin who shrugged.

“What else were you going to tell her? Ok, see you then? No, this is better.” Arin replied calmly.

Dan’s phone vibrated in response and he nervously opened his message. _Please let it be okay._

“Ooo. What did she say?” Arin leaned over to look.

_-Aww. I miss you too Danny. It'll be good to see with you again. You’ll have to come hang out at my place the night you get in. :winky face: :heart:-_

“Oh, you got that winky face and a house invitation. She’s totally in love with you. I ship it. Dan x Charlie forever. “ Arin leaned back to his cushion and linked his hands behind his head.

Dan face palmed sighing into his hands. That was nerve-wracking. He wrote back one last time before they started filming again.

_-I'm excited to hang with you too. I'll text you tomorrow. Have a good night, baby girl.-_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr for this fic is here [ Dr. Charlie's Collection of Confessions ](https://doctorcharlieschoen.tumblr.com/). It will include mood boards for chapters, art, and I'm looking into getting Charlie's playlist on Spotify listed. Charlie's reference page is up!


	2. Confession Time (Dan's POV) *

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan has to survive dinner with his family and the woman he confessed his love to over the internet. So far no one had seen it...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graphic Smut at end of chapter.  
> Tags updated for content.  
>  _Italics_ are for internal thoughts of the main POV character.

 

_-Aww. I miss you too Danny. It'll be good to see with you again. You’ll have to come hang out at my place the night you get in. :winky face: :heart:-_

“Oh, you got that winky face and a house invitation. She’s totally in love with you. I ship it. Dan x Charlie forever. “ Arin leaned back to his cushion and linked his hands behind his head.

Dan face palmed sighing into his hands. That was nerve-wracking. He wrote back one last time before they started filming again.

_-I'm excited to hang with you too. I'll text you tomorrow. Have a good night, baby girl.-_

**\--Two Weeks Later—Dan’s Parents House—**

He continued to rock on his heels in anticipation.  _Maybe she had already seen today’s video where he had confessed?_  His parents hadn’t watched it yet as far as he knew, which was a miracle as they would have made this dinner even more awkward than it already was going to be. A loud resounding knock made Dan jump and he quickly threw open the front door. There on the snow covered porch stood a woman wrapped up in a black trench coat and a small black bowler hat. Her hand was still up in the knocking position, eyes wide, and mouth agape. She closed her mouth quickly to form a smile that made Dan’s chest tighten.

“May I come in, Danny?” She asked. Her voice was melodic, a blend between a higher pitch with a calm soothing tone. He sheepishly smiled before moving aside to let her walk in. She kicked her heeled shoes on the edge of the door frame getting as much snow off as possible. Dan closed and locked the front door as she passed letting the warmth of the house take over.

“Hey Charlie.” He waved to her and she snickered at his gesture.

“Hey Dan.”

They stood in the entryway for a moment more before Dana, Dan’s sister, walked by and paused to stare at them.

“Dan, aren’t you going to take her coat?” She suggested before heading back into the living room.

Dan sputtered an okay before offering to take Charlie’s coat and hat. Charlie rolled her eyes jokingly exasperated before unbuttoning her coat and passing it to him. She removed her hat to reveal light brown curly ringlets that poofed up around her head. When she brushed off her front, Dan glanced her up and down. She wore a neatly pressed white button up shirt, a little black bowtie with tiny gold triforce symbols, a black waist high knee length wool skirt, sheer pale gold leggings, and black heeled boots. When she reached back to run her hand through her hair he noticed gold triforce cufflinks on her shirt cuffs. She bent down to remove her snow covered boots to show off black and gold socks. Dan leaned back to glance at her behind in habit. Charlie caught him checking her out and smirked.

“Like something you see, Dan?” She teased him flashing her bright smile. Dan felt his chest tighten up even more.  _She was way too perfect for him._

“Maybe. Now get over here.” He teased back with an obvious wink. _Good move? Yeah, good move._  He opened his arms up for a hug and she smoothly stepped into it. Dan felt her hands run under his white leather jacket and link around his back. She laid her head against his chest and breathed in deeply. Dan rested his head against hers inhaling her lovely vanilla smell that she always had. He missed her and didn’t realize how much he wanted her back until the memories flooded his brain with one breath taken. Two months apart since they saw each other last and it felt like forever.

“You smell like you.” He heard her say into his shirt. Her voice vibrated against his chest. “Is it weird that I missed that?” She questioned and looked up at him. Blue eyes met chocolate brown.

He smiled back and replied, “Nah. I was just thinking the same thing. I’ve missed you too.”

_Ok, it’s going great. Now to move in for a little more intimate moment._  He leaned in to meet his forehead with hers, bringing a hand up to cup her jaw. She leaned into it as well, hands clenching into the back of his shirt. They almost closed the gap between their lips to kiss, but a throat clearing behind them interrupted at the most inopportune time. Dan groaned and leaned away to look behind him. His father Avi was watching them with a raised brow and small grin.

“Daaan. Come, bring Charlotte so we can eat. You two have all the time to be catching love together later.” Avi beckoned them to move into the dining room.

“Avi. We’re not doing anything.” Dan blushed at his Dad's accusations. He could see Charlie frown at his response, but she quickly shifted it to a smile when she noticed him watching her. Dan felt ashamed at her sudden sadness hoping he didn’t ruin whatever they had started there.

“Doesn’t look like nothing. You better be treating our Charlotte kindly.” Avi retorted and crossed his arms at his son.

Charlie pulled out of Dan's personal bubble to walk over to Avi, hugging him as a hello.

“Welcome home, Charlotte.” Dan heard his father whisper to her in Hebrew from his spot.

He anxiously watched their exchange as his father was prone to making these events even more strained between them.

“Thank you, Avi. I'm not sure if I need protection from Dan or if he needs it from me.” She joked with him back in Hebrew.

Avi chuckled In return, “Hopefully neither. You two play nice tonight. I know how you both get when there’s a war raging.”

Although Dan no longer spoke in his father’s mother tongue he understood it. Charlie laughed, walked back over to Dan, and grabbed his hand pulling him with her to leave the hallway.

When they walked past Avi and towards the living room, Charlie looked up at Dan and whispered, “Continue our conversation later?”

Dan smirked when she winked at him feeling his heart hammer in his chest. She was going to give him a heart attack before the night was over. She had led him into the living room where his mother Debra, and grandmother Ruth sat watching his two nephews Nash and Carter. The boys were playing cars on the old rug while their family talked. Dana rushed in to usher the boys to wash up. She saw Charlie first, smiling, and waving to them.

“Evening Charlie.” Dana smiled, directing the small children towards the hallway bathroom.

Charlie waved back and smiled at the boys as they ran past. Nash hugged Charlie’s leg as he ran by and Carter waved slowly.

“Auntie Charlie! Will you play with us? Uncle Danny made a snowman with us earlier today.” Nash called out from down the hall.

Charlie waved back at Carter. “Maybe tomorrow morning, boys. I bet you’ll be heading to bed after dinner.” She called out to them.

They whined sadly, but were quickly rushed to the bathroom. Dan always got questions from people when Charlie would be called Auntie by his nephews in public, but he never told them otherwise that he wasn’t with Charlie. She deserved the title of Aunt no matter their relationship at the moment. She had been there since their birth, been their doctor when they lived nearby, and always helped Dana watch them if she had to do something for work. When Dana passed Dan she winked at her older brother, and made a heart hand gesture towards Charlie when she wasn’t looking. He rolled his eyes at her openness, shushed her as she side hugged Charlie before running off to catch up with the boys. Dan almost didn’t notice Debra walked up, pull Charlie into a tight hug, and beam brightly at her.

“So good to see you tonight, Charlotte. It feels like we haven’t seen you in a few weeks! I was worried that you’re overworking yourself. Just telling Avi earlier today that we needed to take you dinner sometime to check on you. I'm glad you could make it.” Debra spoke softly, and held Charlie’s hand as she talked. Charlie smiled back with such love. Dan always felt love bloom in his chest when he watched the exchanges between his mother and Charlie. Those two would always be close even if Dan and Charlie never worked it out between themselves.

“I'm good, Deb. I’m probably overworked, but what else is new? I'm so glad I could make it too. I was worried that I was going to be extremely late. I ran home from my double shift, tried to put on something presentable, and rushed over.” Charlie explained motioning to her clothes as she spoke.

Debra looked her up and down. “I think your outfit is gorgeous as always. Isn’t Charlie gorgeous, Dan?” He nodded along with his mother feeling his face heat up. None of them were going to make this night simple, “So, I see you already saw Dan at the door. Did he give you proper welcome?” Debra raised a brow at her son, a curious smirk playing on her lips. Dan raised a brow back, side eyeing his mother. _What was she getting at?_   Charlie looked back at Dan and showed off a toothy smile. He swore he saw a spark flickered in her eyes as they met gazes.

“Danny always gives me a kind welcome. Such a gentleman is he.” She chuckled as she said this.

Dan bowed towards her cheesing the gesture up to a ridiculous level.

“Always a pleasure, my lady.” He replied adding an old English accent to his voice.

Debra watched them both intensely, probably gauging their current relationship. Dan’s mother had always known what Charlie and Dan were going through when they were dating and even when they weren’t talking to each other, but this time he hadn’t updated her on his plans. The stares were interrupted by his grandmother Ruth, also known as Mom, walking up to welcome Charlie home as she always did. Charlie quickly offered a warm hug to Ruth, who accepted. They embraced rocking back and forth, Ruth whispering into Charlie’s ear, and her pulling back to shake her head no at whatever secret conversation was going on there. Ruth glanced at Dan to only shake her head as if she was disappointed in him. _Oh no_ , he knew where this was going.

“Hey, I'm right here you know.” Dan commented to the three women. He could see Charlie's face redden as she stepped away from Ruth. “What are you all gossiping about?”

His grandmother spoke up first. “Just asking Charlotte here if you two are together again.”

She was always honest he would give her that. Dan’s face reddened just as badly as Charlie’s. He pursed his lips into a line and inhaled through his nose. Every time they had a family gathering she would either ask him or Charlie. From the way Mom explained it to him she was hoping she could subliminally convince him of their relationship and it would happen one day.

“Mom.” He started to speak, but Ruth cut him off.

“I know! I know! But an old woman can dream, can’t she?” She answered with a wink and grabbed Charlie’s hand, “Come, Charlotte. Let’s go to the table.”

Charlie looked back at him with a sad expression on her face. She mouthed Sorry to him and followed Ruth into the dining room. Dan and his mother hung back in the living room. He ran his hand over his face, exasperated. This was going to be a lot more painful than he thought dinner would have been, everyone was already teaming up to convince him of something he already knew. His mother met his gaze when he looked up, and gave him a soft look.

“When are you going to tell her?” she asked him.

Well, now he knew at least his mother and Dana saw his confession. Dan stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, awkwardly shifted his weight before speaking.

“I was going to tell her when she walked in the door, but Avi interrupted a moment.” Dan struggled to find his words. “Plus I didn’t really think it through, because if she rejected me then it would have made for a brutal dinner.”

“A moment?” Debra raised a brow curious. She loved hearing the details of his attempts at wooing Charlie over the years.

“May have almost been a kiss.” He shrugged, grinning sheepishly at her. His mother laughed to herself before waving at him when he gave her a confused look. _Was that not a good time or way to start his confession?_

“Dan, she’s not going to reject you. Charlie loves you so much it’s unbelievable at times. Trust me I know. Try after dinner. Hang out, watch a movie, talk to her.” She replied.

She walked up, patted her son’s cheek, and turned around to head into the dining room where everyone was waiting for him. Dan stood there a moment more, breathing in deeply, and mentally preparing himself for the dinner of a lifetime. His mother’s reassurance helped as she and Charlie talked all of the time, but even the thought of rejection from Charlie deeply stung. _It’s all going to be okay_.

Dan walked onward into the dining room. There was a large expanded table set with various dishes. 9 place settings were laid out. On one side was his sister Dana, her husband Daniel , and their two boys. The other side was his grandmother, an empty spot for him, and Charlie. The end spots were filled by Avi and his mother. Dan slipped into his seat, pulling his jacket off, and his NY Giants beanie. Charlie gave him a small grin from her spot. He beamed back. Avi cleared his throat, raising a glass of water, and welcomed them all to dinner, thanking them for being together as a family. Although Charlie was their neighbor they always counted her as part of the family especially after her own family had passed on. Dan listened to his father’s words, but tuned out when he noticed Charlie’s left hand embrace his right under the table. Everyone started talking to each other. Dan could feel Charlie spelling out words on his palm. It brought him back to when they would to do this as kids to have private conversations in plain sight. Dan focused on using his left hand to put food on his plate; Latkes, brisket, veggies, the works as she traced out letters. He didn’t want to look towards her to gain unwanted attention.

He felt a U form, then a line for a space, an o, then a k ending with a question mark. _Was he okay?_ She was worried about how he felt about his family’s comments earlier he thought. He traced back slowly.

_Yes_U?_

He heard her sigh next to him. It sounded sad, and all he wanted to do was hug her to let her know it would all be okay.

_ Confused. _

She spelled back. That made two of them. He didn’t get to reply as he heard his name called.

“Dan? Dan, you okay?” Dana called out to him. He looked up to see them all staring at him waiting for an answer.

“Hmm? What did you ask? I'm sorry, I'm in my head today.” He apologized face feeling flushed in embarrassment.

Dana gave him a worried glance before responding, “Just wondering how excited you are for the show in two nights.”

_Ah, yes, the NYC Game Grumps Live show_. It was the last show of the year and then vacation officially started until early January.

“Super excited for it. This whole touring for Game Grumps and then all the NSP shows are really going to change a lot. I can’t wait to see how far we go.” He replied.

Charlie released his hand to start eating. Dana started talking to her husband and his parents to his grandmother. Dan picked on his food, and glanced over at Charlie. She met his gaze, smirked, and finished chewing her food before talking.

“I’m going to that show.” She announced to him.

Dan inhaled his water he attempted to drink. He started to cough, and could feel Charlie reach over to pat his back. He was hoping she misspoke, the thought of her at his shows made him nervous.

“Say what?” he croaked glancing at her.

Charlie returned the glance with a shit eating grin. Oh, she was enjoying him being on his toes around her.

“I'll be at the show that night. I got my ticket a while ago.”

This news made his heart speed up and a panic wash over him. Charlie was going to be in the audience and part of him wanted to run and part of him wanted her to see the hard work the Grumps had been working towards. She must have noticed his panicked face as she raised up hands in forfeit.

“Danny. Dude. Don’t worry. I don’t think I'm going to embarrass you.” She nervously laughed.

He shook his head, “No! That’s not it. I'm worried that I'll embarrass myself. We do some stupid shit.”

“Dan.” Dana scolded him, and nodded towards the boys. They weren’t paying attention, but he apologized anyways.

“Oh shit. Sorry, Dana. Oh sh- I mean shoot. Yeah, shoot. Sorry.” He kept cursing and Charlie laughed behind a hand.

Dana rolled her eyes. Charlie and Dan made eye contact again. He was even more embarrassed now.

“You do know I watch your band's music videos, right? I'm not sure you can get more embarrassed at me watching something than that, but I'm not going to judge you. I think you and Arin will do amazing. Who else will be there?” Charlie asked.

“Uh. Vernon, Brent, Brian, and maybe Ross if he flies in.” Dan listed the members.

He could see Charlie’s face light up more and more as his went down the list. She had been a fan of all of them as soon as he would tell her about his day and continued to watch the Grumps daily. She had more knowledge of his friends than anyone else did and loved them all nonetheless.

“I am so excited. Are you guys doing anything after because Brian keeps trying to invite me to drinks once the show is over, but I don’t want to seem like the weird fan intruding.” She wrung her hands together and kept her gaze on her plate.

Dan patted her on the shoulder, “ Charlie, baby, you’re always welcome to join us. I know they would love to meet you. Especially Arin right now.” He paused to wait for her reply, but she was gawking wide eyed at him. Her face turned a bright red and she looked away covering her face with a hand. The room was quiet and his family snickering to themselves.

“What? What did I say?” he turned to his grandmother, who was smiling at him.

“You called Charlotte baby again. For you two not being together, you are always talking that way.” Ruth explained.

Dan exhaled a shaky breath, and swiveled himself back to face Charlie. _Fuck_ , he had to stop doing that in public. It was a habit he could never quiet break over the years and he even got shit from previous girlfriends at the times he would talk to Charlie.

“I am so sorry I keep calling you that. If it makes you uncomfortable you can tell me to stop. It’s an old habit I haven’t been able to break.” Dan apologized, rubbing his hands together, and gave her a sorrowful glance. Charlie waved her hand nonchalantly, face still red, but smiled back.

“Dude. It’s ok. You can call me whatever. I'll just call you baby in return.” She winked at him.

He smirked and noticed his mother motioning towards Charlie, mouthing 'now?'. He shook his head no when Charlie looked down at her plate again. He felt his blood pumping with the risk of exposure from family increasing.

“So Charlotte. How has the packing been going? Need anymore cardboard boxes?” Debra asked. Dan was already back to finishing his plate, but whipped his head to stare at her. Oh, that was a mistake he thought as he heard his neck crack.

“Wha-? Yourmoving? Whatthefuck?” he exclaimed surprised mouth full of food.

This was also news to him. _How could she move?_ Charlie had always lived next door and never seemed like she wanted to leave. Dana scoffed at Dan, but allowed this cursing to slide as she never said anything. Charlie pursed her lips together, hands clenching her napkin in her lap, and faced Dan. Her eyes showed him a fire burning in her that he hadn’t seen from her in a long time. Her confidence was back in full force.

“I accepted a teaching position at a med school. They have been begging for me to join them the last two years, but this last offer was too good to deny. I'll have full benefits, they’ll cover my rent, food money, car rental if I can’t ship my Bug, and even paying for storage for my stuff. Plus a pretty decent salaried paycheck.”

“What about your house? Everyone here? Where are you moving to?” Dan exclaimed clearly confused. He looked to his family expecting the same reaction from them, but they weren’t reacting at all. They had to know something he didn’t if they were at peace with their only Charlotte moving away.

His grandmother spoke up first, a scolding tone in her voice, “Daniel. Let her finish. Trust me.” Ruth patted his leg. He turned back to Charlie, mumbled a sorry, and closed his mouth.

“Dan. I'm 36. I'm allowed to make massive life changes. I need a change in scenery. The clinic was getting too stagnant. Everyone else has moved on with their lives and I'm still here. I'll still visit the Avidans every chance I get. I’ll still own my grandparents’ house. Actually Dana and Daniel are going to be moving in so they can rent it from me and be close to family.” Dana nodded and gave them a thumbs up. “Plus, I’m moving to the L.A. area. You know back when I visited in October? That was my interview with the school. I also wanted to check Los Angeles out for myself. I had tons of other offers in other states and even countries, but I thought that would be the biggest change and at least I wouldn’t be alone because I know someone who lives there.” She gestured towards him.

“Me?” Dan obviously stated. He felt his heart pounding, an excited buzz filling the air at the thought that Charlie would be moving near him. Along with the confession, this could end wonderfully… or awkward if she moved and they stayed friends.

“No, I'm talking about the Wechts. Of course you. Not to say I’m not excited to see Brian, Rachel, and Audrey again.” Charlie let out a ridiculous snort at his shock. “I figure you’re super busy all the time, but maybe we can catch up occasionally.”

“Not occasionally. I'm going to see you any chance I get. Why would I not want to hang with one of my best friends?” He lightly elbowed her. Charlie elbowed him back.

“At least you two don’t hate each other. More love is needed for all these changes.” Dan heard Avi say. “We will miss our Charlotte so you better take good care of her in your city, Daaan.” Avi wagged an index finger at him. Dan smirked to himself.

“You need to worry about the people of L.A. not Charlie. She can injure someone if she wanted to.”

“Pshh. Maybe back then. Now I follow the Hippocratic Oath and can do no harm… purposely.” Charlie retorted.

They all laughed. Dinner slowed down with more small talk, and Charlie’s hand ended up back in his.

_I_g2g_after_dinner._

She spelled it out and he frowned, but she continued to spell out on his soft palm.

_ U_r_welcome_2_hang_2night.  _

Maybe this would be his chance to confess. Just had to go over there and visit like he always did. He thought about it before tracing an answer back.

_ Give_me_ten.  _

It wasn’t a yes or a no, but it was all he could agree to right now. She traced an ok then let go again.

As dinner ended, everyone gave their thanks and Charlie stood up from her chair. Dan followed and stood next to her throwing on his jacket.

“Ok, thank you all so much for the lovely dinner. I'll be back for the rest of Hanukkah as tonight was my last day of work. I'm officially unemployed until I move in two weeks.” She raised her arms in a cheer. Dan high fived her. The family all rose to hug Charlie one by one. Even his nephews swarmed her legs and pawed at her.

“Auntie Charlie. Auntie Charlie. We’re going to miss you!” Charlie audibly cooed at them and ruffled their hair. Dan felt his heart clench, _oh fuck_ , that was the most adorable thing. “I'll miss you too boys. I'll be sure to send your mom pictures and videos. I'll also make sure Uncle Danny comes to visit more often.” Charlie kneeled down to their height. They cheered and hugged her. Charlie hugged them back. When she let go, they ran off towards the living room to go play. Dana waved goodbye and her husband gave Charlie a handshake.

“See you tomorrow.” They said together.

Charlie hugged Ruth next, while Ruth whispered into her ear as always. Charlie shook her head solemnly and shrugged in response. Lastly, she gave hugs to Dan’s parents. Avi kissed her forehead and Debra caressed her cheek for a moment.

“We love you, Charlotte. No matter where you are in the world or no matter your relationships.” Dan could hear his mother whisper this to Charlie. Charlie thanked them and whispered a love you back. When Charlie turned back to Dan, he could see pinpricks of tears forming, but she quickly wiped them away and walked towards the main entrance. She waved goodbye to the family before walking out of sight. Dan felt a push on his back. When he looked behind him, he saw his mother making a shooing motion with her hands.

“Go. Now’s your chance. Go confess.” She winked at her son. Avi gave him a thumbs up, Dana smiled, and his grandmother held her hand out to him. He reached over to take whatever it was she was offering. When he opened his palm he saw a simple yellow gold ring with a small diamond and sapphires.

Ruth was softly smiling at him, “I’ve been holding onto this for you since you returned it so many years ago. Now, you don’t have to get engaged tonight, but I thought maybe you would like it in case.” She winked at him and he gave her a huge hug. He pocketed the ring in his jackets inner zipper pocket.

“Thank you so very much, Mom” He kissed her forehead and rushed off to find Charlie fumbling with her coat at the door.

“Stupid fucking jacket has too many buttons.” She was grumbling. Dan snuck up next to her.

“Whoa, what did your jacket ever do to you?” he questioned her jokingly.

“Jesus!” Charlie jumped, turned around towards him and lightly smacked his arm. “Leigh Daniel. What the fuck was that for?”

He mockingly put his hands up to protect himself. She huffed and turned back towards the coat rack.

“Just here to help you with your coat.” He reached his arms around her to help her button up the offending garment. “Can’t not curse anymore, can you?” Charlie leaned back into him letting her back settle flush against his front.

She grumbled, “I’ve been holding in all the fucks for 36 hours now. I'm almost out the door. I'm pretty sure the boys can’t hear me from in here.” Dan hummed an affirmative reply into her hair as he leaned over her shoulder to finish with the last button on her chest. Charlie laid her head back against his chest. Deep breaths shook her frame before she spoke.

“So… You coming over? I mean, you don’t have to, but you did mention hanging out a few weeks ago.” She whispered timidly.

Dan let go of her coat once the last button was pushed through. He reached over her to grab her hat and plopped it on her head. Charlie leaned down again to put on her boots. Her back still rested against him and he tried not to make a dumb joke about their positioning.

“I would love to come over.” He peeked down to see her glancing at him as well.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment more before Charlie pulled herself away to unlock and open the front door. Cold wind blew past filling the entryway with a frost. Charlie stepped out onto the porch first, hand out to him once she turned back.

“Well come on then. A long an arduous journey awaits us.” She lowered her voice to a ridiculous gruff sound.

Dan pulled his beanie back on before following her out into the winter wonderland. He pulled the door closed behind him, went to lock it, but Dana was already there and waving goodbye. Dan waved back, grabbed Charlie’s hand, to follow her lead off into the snow covered yard. They walked down towards the sidewalk, passing a snowman he and the boys had built earlier that day. Snow continued to fall around them as they turned left to walk down the shoveled sidewalk for a few feet until they turned left again down the walkway to her house next door. _Such a long journey._

“That was one wild adventure. I'm glad we made it out alive.” Dan snickered.

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Thank you for accompanying me, brave knight. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She retorted chuckling, her hand reached into her coat pockets to pull out her keys, and turned to face him on the steps of the porch. “We’ll be warm and safe in my castle. Please just don’t fuck all of my furniture this time. I recently packed most of it up.”

He was never going to be able to get her to forget that Objects of Desire was filmed in her home. She was clearly joking, but he faked offense with an audible scoff.

“I would never, your grace. How dare you accuse such a knight of unpleasant perverted deeds! I'll have you know I only fuck the finest quality antiques.”

Charlie opened her front door, only to start laughing hysterically. Dan followed her inside, laughing just as hard. She released his hand to start fighting her coat again, but none of the buttons would undo as she giggled harder. Dan closed the door behind them locking it.

“Ughhh. I don’t know why I even put this fucking thing on to walk 10 feet. Please help me Dan.” She threw her arms up in defeat.

He tried to stifle his laughter to focus on helping her remove her coat, but they both ended up in a giggle fit. Dan leaned forward which made him tower over her as her back hit the wall of the entryway. He managed to undo a few buttons before he noticed the position they were in. Charlie was no longer laughing, but stared at him intensely.

“Dan?”

“What, baby?”

“Would you like some hot tea?” she whispered and slid the coat off of her shoulders. Her fingers reached under her bow-tie popping it open. Two top buttons on her blouse came apart as she pulled off her tie. He did his best to not glance down. She kicked her shoes haphazardly towards the doorway and never breaking eye contact with him.

“Sure.”

Dan stepped back to take her coat and hang it up along with both of their hats. He kept his jacket with him in case he needed it. When he turned back around she was already moved further into the house. Her house matched his parents in layout and he knew it by heart. Dan kicked off his shoes, walked towards the living room and threw himself onto her soft couch. The last time he sat here he was telling Charlie he was moving to L.A. to follow his dreams of NSP. He begged her to run away with him and she refused telling him they still needed to work on themselves some more before they could settle. This time was to be different though or so he told himself over and over again. Dan sat there in his own thoughts for a few minutes that he didn’t even see Charlie return with a pair of teacups and saucers. She set them down, rushed off to bring back boxes of tea, and sugar. She left once more to get the hot kettle, placing it on a heat plate before walking over to the couch to sit next to Dan. He looked up when he felt the couch shift to see her staring down at the tea set. Charlie gestured at it.

“Oh! Thank you.” Dan reached out to look through the boxes. Citrus, Raspberry, Blueberry, Earl Grey, Sleepytime, and lastly peppermint. He pulled out a packet of Sleepytime and set it in his small teacup. Charlie did the same and added a few sugar cubes to hers before pouring in the boiling water. She poured the water into Dan's tiny teacup as well.

“Thank you.”

“Welcome.” Her reply was short, and she sounded upset.

Dan was extremely confused as her tone with him had done a complete switch since they were standing in the hallway. She was so open and happy, but now closed off to him. _Did she finally remember it was him she was talking to? Did all the conversations they had for months mean nothing, now that they faced each other? She was so close and open to him back in October._ Dan picked on his shirt, waiting for his tea to cool a smidge before drinking it.

“So uh… did you watch today’s Dead Rising episode?” he questioned hopefully breaking the ice.

Charlie glanced at him and gave him a sad smile. “No. I got off that double shift before heading over for dinner. Usually I watch them before bed. Is it a good episode?” she replied back. She blew on her tea, sipping it slowly.

Dan nodded, “I happen to think it’s the best Dead Rising episode yet.”

Charlie rose a brow and smirked, “Even better than when Arin got killed within the first 5 seconds?”

“Better than that.” Dan drank his tea. The tea cup looked ridiculously tiny is his large hands. It was almost comical to watch as he drank.

“I should have just grabbed you a mug. No idea why I pulled out the fancy set. I don’t need to impress you with it.” She mumbled.

Dan beamed, “It’s totally fine. I like your grandmother's tiny tea sets. We used to play with these in secret all of the time.”

Charlie smiled back genuinely, and pulled a remote from behind her. “So. You up for watching it with me?” She asked meekly.

Dan nodded and he watched her turn on the TV, travel to the YouTube app, and scroll through her subs. He could only grin as he saw lot of his friend’s channels scroll by; Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, Jirard, ProJared, NSP, Dodger, and so many more. When she finally scrolled to the Grumps page and clicked it he could feel his heart rate rise. She scrolled down to the uploads and the first one was the Dead Rising 2 of the day. “Episode __: Confession Time” Well, he had to give it to Barry that it was aptly named. The episode loaded and the Jingle Grumps theme played instead of the original for the holidays. Dan watched Charlie stare at the TV with a smile on her face. She had leaned back into the couch, arms crossed and feet up against her. The episode started like any other with them introducing themselves. Arin was as enthusiastic as always, but Dan sounded as out of it as he had for the last twelve episodes. Charlie peeked at Dan before continuing to watch. They watched in silence with the occasional laugh at Arin's demise. Then it got to the part where Arin called Dan out on his texting.

-“So Dan. Who’s the girl?”-

\- “Wha-? What do you mean? There’s no girl.”-

-“Oh? I mean what’s got you so hung up on your texts, huh? Do the lovelies not deserve your undying attention?”-

Dan could hear Charlie inhale a shaky breath and he reached over to take her hand. She turned to him, lacing her fingers in his, and continued to watch the episode. As Arin and himself went back and forth, he heard himself shout that he was in love. Charlie jumped at the sudden volume change, nervously laughing to herself. From then on he knew it was the moment of truth. He heard himself answer Arin that he was in love with a woman for over twenty years, that they used to date, that they had been close since kids, and now he was still in love with her. As soon as he admitted to Charlie’s name, his hand was enveloped in a vice grip. He looked over to see that Charlie had one hand covering her face, and the other holding onto his for dear life. Dan could see her body shaking and small sobs escaped her. The episode went on as he explained his love to Arin, all his faults, and the things that ruined them. When it go to the main confession Dan paused the episode to face Charlie.

“Charlotte?” he softly called to her.

She removed her hand slowly to show puffy eyes and a red nose. She snorted and cleared her throat.

“Yes, Danny?” her voice cracked at his name.

Dan scooted closer to her until his knees met hers. He reached out to tilt her chin up to face him. Her blue eyes met his and he saw her soul looking into his.

“I love you, Charlotte. I've loved you for a very long time. I want to prove to you that I'm a better man than I used to be. That I'm stable and sober now. I can be there for you, because you’re always there for me. You’re moving to L.A. and that will make this even more perfect if you’ll say yes and be mine. Will you please give me another chance and be with me?” Dan stumbled over some of his words, but the thought it had been the smoothest he’s ever been. Charlie squeezed the hand that was laced with his, and leaned in towards him.

“Yes, Dan, I would love nothing more than to be yours. I forgave you for what happened so many years ago. I forgave us for what happened ten years ago. I know you’ve been working so hard to reach your dreams and I'm so proud of how far you have come. But- “

“But?” Dan frowned at the sudden turn.

“I feel like such an idiot. I am so sorry about my hot and cold attitude tonight. I am just really fucking confused. In October when I visited you snuck me in your house for the night to watch movies and we made out. Then you actually kept messaging me instead of ghosting me like you usually do. Then last week when we sent each other those x rated pictures and texts, I was worried when I didn’t hear from you again that suddenly I crossed the line in our relationship. I thought that after my visit in October it was obvious that we were into each other, but that maybe you decided against it after it turned even more sexual. Tonight when you greeted me I thought we were so close to kissing, but you denied a relationship with me at every chance when questioned by your family. I was worried this whole night that everyone was acting so weird because you were finally going to tell me that we couldn’t do this again. Fuck, I can’t believe that all this silence was because you filmed a confession on the Grumps. You totally told the world you were in love with me, didn’t you?” She hiccuped at the end and rubbed her eyes. Dan caressed her cheek and ran his thumb against her face.

“I totally did tell the world today. I wanted to have someone to hold me accountable if I was too much of a coward to say it first. Even after all these years of knowing you, you make me nervous. I am so sorry if I made you feel unwanted or that I didn’t love you. I wanted to tell you when we got alone, not in front of family. I am so in love with you that I can’t function like a normal human. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I needed to let you know so that either we could do something about it or let it go.” They both leaned into each other simultaneously to press foreheads together.

“I love you too, Danny. I love you so fucking much I can’t focus. It's not like I sleep or eat much anyways. I’ve been a zombie for the last two months counting down the days until I got to see you again. I even took this job hoping that maybe I could be brave enough to do something about my feelings for once. I mean, we haven’t had something between us in four years. I need you here.”

“I need you too, Charlotte.” Dan whispered to her.

His heart pounded in his chest, body starting to heat up from her words. Charlie grabbed his jacket collar to pull him into a kiss. As soon as their lips met Dan swore his brain fried. All he could feel was her soft lips caressing his and him opening up his mouth to her. They had kissed hundreds of times in their life, but this time was the best to date he thought. He grabbed her waist, helped shift her so that she was straddling his lap as he sat back against the couch. Dan ran his hands up and down her body as she deepened the kiss. Her hands curled into his hair, holding on at the base. He felt her hips grind down onto him, his body pushing back just has hard and desperate. When they broke away for a moment, Dan met her gaze. It took him a moment to catch up to what was happening on his lap. Charlie, his oldest friend and love, was flush against him, buttons undone on her blouse, cheeks red, and panting. Her fingers massaged his scalp, he laid his head back in response, a moan escaping his lips. _Fuck, should they be doing this right now? What was the acceptable amount of time after reconnecting before screwing_? Charlie seemed to be having the same nervous thoughts as him as she pulled off of him a smidge to hover above him.

“Danny. I don’t know if we should be going straight to sex tonight. Maybe we can play around though? We just agreed that we loved each other, but we need to set some ground rules.” She removed her hands to place them on his chest instead. Dan sat back up, settled his hands upon her hips, and gave her a small smile.

“Uh...yeah. I can agree to that. What is an acceptable amount of time before we can fuck? I-I mean make love. Either one... whatever you prefer. I can do both.” He sputtered forgetting that he was trying to be romantic earlier. _Good job, Mr. Sexbang. Good Job._

Charlie raised a brow, a snort of a laugh escaping from her, and a shaky breath exhaled before speaking, “Smooth, Danny, smooth. I don't know, man, maybe tomorrow night if you are still charming enough in the morning. Let’s see how everything goes after we talk it out. I know, I know one more day isn’t a lot of time from now, but I want you to think about tonight and how you feel tomorrow with me as your partner. Plus if we wait a day, I can say we took the moral high ground.” Charlie winked at him before she lifted herself off of him to stand in front of the couch. The TV flashed off as she hit the power button. Charlie yawned, stretched an arm above her head, and started walking towards the stairs of her house.

“Charlie?” Dan asked confused at her sudden escape from his grasp.

“I am tired. I worked 24 hours before tonight. If you want to stay and sleep in my bed with me you’re welcome to. You’re also able to go home. Your choice, Dan. I mean who knows what can happen when we get up there? Want to come play with me? I may not let you 'make love' to me as you put it, but you've got me all interested in other things over here...”, Charlie smirked, hands reaching up to undo each button on her formal shirt, languidly revealing more and more of her skin as she went.

She stopped at the end of the stairs, pulled her blouse off and dropped it on the floor. He watched as she slowly unzipped her skirt, shimmied it off of her hips with her leggings following, and onto the floor it went. A sly glance was thrown towards him before she headed up the stairs. He couldn’t react fast enough; jacket shed, shirt thrown over his head, and belt unbuckled by the time he made it to the stairs. Dan shook his jeans off halfway up and dashed up the rest. He barely registered the bra that was thrown at him as he reached the landing. Charlie stood in her bedroom doorway, giggling, topless, and only wearing a pair of black boy shorts. Dan rushed towards her, picking her up to cross the threshold. As they hit her bed, Charlie clung to him, naked chests flush against each other. This no sex rule was going to be hard to follow, but she did say they could play with each other and Dan could think of ways to play. Charlie was giggling to herself under him, hands roaming until she met his necklace he always wore. He pulled back to watch her trace it’s design. The light from the hallway highlighted the contours of her cheeks as she smiled at him. The look he received was enough to make all the bullshit they put up with the last twenty years worth it.

“You’re gorgeous.” Dan whispered it not meaning to say it aloud.

“Aww. Thank you. You’re gorgeous too.”

“Really? I hear that a lot, but I'm just a freakishly tall skinny guy, who has giant thumbs and sings about dicks.” He answered back unwilling to take the compliment from her.

“A handsome tall skinny man, who just so happens to sing about dicks for a living. Nothing weird there. Plus what’s wrong with your thumbs?” Charlie felt around until her right hand met his left. Her fingers lightly traced his knuckles, down the tendons until she met his wrist to trace back in reverse only do it again.

“You know what is wrong with my thumbs” he said in a factual manner. She of all people listened to him complain about them for years and always told him that he was fine with his ginormous phalanges. 

She scoffed at his retort. “It doesn’t mean there’s something inherently wrong about them. I appreciate all of your body.”

Charlie didn’t catch on to what she said until he noticed her eyes widen and a bashful smile form on her lips.

“All of it?” Dan teased as he thrust his hips against hers. He had been hard since they sat down on the couch and groaned as he pressed his constrained erection against her thigh. She inhaled a sharp breath and glared at him after the sensation passed.

“All of it. I love your stupidly handsome face.” A gentle kiss met his cheek, “Your scar.” She traced his scar with her index finger, “Your dimple.” She kissed his chin. “Your body.” Soft fingers ran down his chest, tracing down towards his navel to his thigh. "Excalibur." Her voice came out as a whisper as she lightly traced his boxers. His breath caught in his chest until her hand moved on from teasing him. “Your cute ass.” Dan jumped as a swift smack met his ass. An amused laugh erupted from her and he joined in. Charlie was one of those few who could get away with patting his butt affectionately. “Even your ginormous thumbs.” Charlie winked again as she brought his right hand up to her face. She never stopped eye contact as she licked his thumb. He felt Excalibur throb as he ran his thumb across her plush lips. Her mouth opened up for him to slip it inside for her to suck it for a second. A sinful moan came from her lips as she released it. He groaned into her mouth as she kissed him again. She was going to play dirty. He had just the thing to get back at her. Dan grinned mischievously before he kissed down her throat, leaving small bite marks every few inches until he reached her breasts. A few licks to each nipple and Charlie’s breath hitched, back arching into him, and hips grinding into his.

“Fuck you, Dan.” She panted, his name coming out in a moan as he licked back up to her clavicle. He laughed leaning back to look at his work. Charlie was flushed, lips parted, panting heavily, and hickeys trailing down her throat and chest. _Checkmate_

“You said no sex. Foreplay isn’t listed under that.” Dan whispered into her ear. He could feel Charlie trace lines down his bare back, and her legs parted further to wrap around his waist.

“I am going to make this excruciating for you as punishment.” She whispered back, a mischievous smile formed as she watched him take in her words. 

One of her hands tangled in his hair again, the other gripping his shoulder. Her lips attached to his, tongue asking for entrance, which he gave eagerly . They laid there puzzled together making out for a minute before Dan felt a shift in his position. His world spun for a second, feeling his back hit the soft comforter of her bed, and that devilish grin brightly shining at him from above. Charlie managed to throw him over onto his back and take the top spot straddled across his hips.

“Whoa. Where did you learn to flip people like that?” He asked her breathless, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. She cackled at his shocked expression. 

"I've learned a few new things over the years. I would rather be up here in control anyways. Sorry for flipping you without asking. I'll make it up to you, promise." She pressed a soft kiss onto his collar bone. Kisses trailed down his chest, then his stomach, following his abdominals past his hips until she hit his boxers. Charlie linked a finger into the band and pulled on it. She say she was going to punish him and if a hand job or blowjob was punishment then he couldn’t wait to see whatever else she came up with for the next night.

“Can I?” she asked him biting her bottom lip while she said it. _Oh, she was good._ All he could manage was a nod and a hiss escaped from him as the cold air of that winter's night met his erection when she pulled his boxers down his thighs. The cold dissipated instantaneously as Charlie took him into her mouth. He shuttered, brain no longer registering anything else, but the pleasure he felt while she continued to run her tongue up and down his cock.

“I am pretty sure oral sex counts as sex, Charlie.” He could barely form the words. He glanced down to watch her curls bounce with every movement she made.

Charlie popped off of him, snickering, “Want me to stop then, baby?”

The cold returned, and he bucked his hips into the air missing her magic. She leered at him, fingers tracing the veins on his shaft.

“Fuck no. Please Charlie let me fuck your mouth.” He pleaded meeting her gaze. Her eyes were hazy with lust, the mischievous smile returned to her lips. His eyes widened not realizing how dirty he had worded his plead until it was already said, but then again he was talking to the Queen of Dirty Talk, as he recalled all of their messages and previous sexual encounters over the years. Her words she would whisper into his ears would make his music sound puritanical.

“Such dirty words from such a beautiful mouth. Are you sure you’re needing this at the moment? I might not be ready to take all of you at once.” She seductively whispered. Her tongue licked flat up him to circle the head only to wait there for a response. That’s what she meant by _excruciating punishment_ he realized. He shamelessly groaned as she left her lips at the head barely touching, but enough to make him wish he could thrust into her mouth.

“Please, Charlotte. I need you. It’s cruel to leave your lover waiting. “ He begged her, his left hand caressing her cheek slowly sliding it into her hair.

“Lover? It's been a while since either of us were that to each other. Do you deserve it, Danny? I'm just giving you back the teasing that you inflict upon me. I agreed to play and when you play dirty I'll do it to you too. There’s not going to be any only taking in this relationship. Agreed?” she watched him react to her tongue lightly teasing his tip. His body shuttered with each touch, hand flexing in her hair trying to not grip too hard without permission, a gasping breath escaping his lips. 

He nodded quickly in response to her questions. “ I think I deserve to be your lover. Please? And I wouldn’t do that to you, baby girl. You know I'll give you everything.” He arched back, eyes squeezing shut as Charlie started pumping him with her hand. A loving smirk flashed at him as he opened his eyes again to watch her torture him. Her love for teasing never ceased to amaze him over the years.

“Then you better hold on, Danny.” She laughed before returning to her previous engagement. It was his turn to pull her hair as her warm mouth enveloped him again. She continued to bob up and down upon him, tongue tracing his shaft up to the tip, rounding there to go back down again. He felt the heat building in his lower stomach, a tingly buzz forming in his head at the thought of her getting him to come. Dan tried his best to not buck into her hot mouth, but once her hand found his balls he picked up the pacing frantically humping her face. Her other hand splayed on his stomach, lightly gripping his skin every time he felt her moan vibrations into him.

“Charlie. I'm getting close, baby. Do you want to pull off?” he asked breathless, her hair tight in his fist as she took him deeper into her throat. “You sure? I'll come in your mouth if you don’t move now.” He asked again giving her once last chance to let go. She motioned for him to continue on. He felt himself getting close to finishing as he thrust into her mouth, moans escaping his lips louder and louder until he was calling out her name. His orgasm snuck up on him when he gazed down to meet her eyes watching him in return.

“Oh fu- Charlie- Baby- Fuck- I'm there.” He shouted through clenched teeth. He came hard, ejaculating down her throat, and still holding her tight against his pelvis as he continued to empty himself into her. She milked him until he stilled then she made a tap out gesture on his stomach, he quickly released her from his hold, mumbling rapid apologies. Charlie pulled off of him, cheeks bright red, and lips darkened. She adjusted her jaw, checking him out under hooded lustful eyes. God, he loved this woman even more than he remembered.

“Trying to suffocate me on Excalibur, eh, Dan?” She joked, crawling up to straddle him. “I didn’t think you coming down my throat would be on the agenda tonight, but, fuck, if it wasn’t hot. Sorry if I got a little a head of myself tonight, but I’ve been dying to blow you since you sent me that picture of you in your new thong.” He watched her bite her bottom lip again. “Just don’t fuck with me if you don’t want me to fuck with you back. I love you, but I will make you work for every last second of pleasure you get.” Her threats weren't malicious at all, but her gaze could burn holes into anyone's soul. 

“Hey, I didn’t plan for this either, but I'm not going to deny you a good face fucking if you want it. I love you too. Now tell me how I can repay you tonight?” Dan laid his hands on her hips, massaging them until Charlie moaned, head thrown back, eyes scrunched closed, her pelvis grinding into his. She was never this assertive in their previous sexual encounters over the last decade and this newfound confidence was exciting to experience. He wanted to show her that he could be of service to her needs as she was to his. She opened her eyes slowly to ogle him like he was something to consume.

“How about tomorrow? I'm way too tired and if I let you do me I won’t get the full experience that I want with our first time back together. I know I ranted to you about give or take a minute ago, but man, I'm so sleepy. You getting off is enough for now.” She leaned down towards him, her forehead resting against his, the confidence waning back into the Charlie he was used to. Dan’s arms wrapped around her in a hug, a kiss meeting her lips, and eyes matching hers.

“You sure, baby girl? I could always give you a hand job. Maybe help put you to sleep?” He asked attentively. Part of him felt guilty for getting all of the sexual attention while leaving her in the dust. She sighed into his chest, falling more into him and puzzling back together.

“I think I'm okay. It’ll just wire me up and then no sleep for sure.” She pulled herself up and off his lithe frame, sitting upon the edge of her bed, “I'm heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Need to use a toothbrush? I’ve got spares.”

"Oh sure. Thanks."

Dan pulled his boxers back up to follow her into her master bathroom. They silently cleaned up, brushing teeth, washing faces, and Charlie kicking off her underwear for a new pair. Dan ogled her ass while he had the chance and gazed up to watch her breast bounce as she put on her black lace panties. _Shit_ , he was way too horny after this celibacy spell for the last few years. It had been at least four years since they slept together last. They may have shared sleeping spots in the years in between, but one of them was always gone by morning before they could try to physically rekindle their affections. Charlie was waiting on him by the time he refocused on brushing his teeth.

“See something you like, Danny?” she sauntered up to him, body pressing flush against his back. He looked over his shoulder to see her resting her cheek on his shoulder blade.

“Admiring all of you like you admire all of me. I missed you Charlotte.” He whispered the last bit as he felt her arms wrap around his middle.

“I missed you too. I can’t believe you are here with me tonight. Thank you.” She mumbled back words vibrating his shoulder.

When she removed herself, he felt empty without her touch. This was going to be an interesting vacation if it started out with them reuniting for good this time. He promised himself it was the last time that they would have to be apart emotionally. Physically, he knew she would be moving nearby in two weeks while he flew back home to L.A. on the second of January. Maybe he could convince her to move in since Barry was moving out in a few days to the other side of the duplex they lived in. His rambling thoughts were interrupted by her speaking to him.

"Hey, I'll be right back. I'm going to get you some water so you don't catch fire on me." She joked and ran off towards the bedroom. He could hear her footsteps creak out into the hallway and down the stairs. 

Dan stood there staring at himself in the mirror, hair sticking up wildly, dark circles under his eyes, teeth automatically being brushed, thinking and coming to realize where he stood as the room stilled. A bright grin spread across his face, a warm bubbling feeling building in his chest, and he couldn't help but cheer out loud and jumped in place. _Holy shit. He was spending the night at Charlie's house. After an impromptu blowjob at that. Fuck yeah!_ He danced a little jig and slid around the tile floors in his socks before he looked up to see Charlie watching him with a smile just as large as his. 

"Did I break you? You're foaming at the mouth." Charlie pointed at him, a stifled giggle. 

Dan turned back to the mirror to see an explosion of foaming toothpaste bubbles coating his mouth and dripping down his chin onto the floor. A sharp laugh came from him and it soon turned into hysterics for both of them. Dan quickly washed his face, rinsed his mouth, and dried off while Charlie walked off again. 

"Shit. I probably needed my mouth washed out after all of the words I said. I'll be sure to say worse next time. " He called back at her. 

“You coming?” Charlie called to him from the doorway waiting on him to return to bed.

“Didn’t I already do that?” he retorted following her back into her room. 

Charlie scoffed audibly to his joke, "Out. Get your clothes and go. No puns after sexual encounters. I am too vulnerable emotionally to have to listen to the lowest form of comedy!" Her sarcasm was thick and the grin plastered on her face would never let her get away with seeming serious.

"Didn't you make a blowie pun though right after...?" Dan turned to raise his scarred brow at her. 

"Oh shit. You are right. The pun virus has infected me as well. Okay, I'll give you a pass this one time. Next time you're sleeping in the snow." She shrugged and grabbed his hand to lead him to her soft bed through the dark room.

“I put your phone on the end table along with a charger if you need it. And a glass of water so you don't over heat on me.” Charlie informed him. He thanked her, slid into the left side of the bed, and curled up on his right side as he always did. Her warm body slid into the right of the bed next to him. His arms automatically wrapped around her, a smile hiding itself in her hair as he snuggled up against her.

“Good night Danny.” He heard Charlie whisper to him.

“Good night Charlie. I love you.” His smile grew larger as his heart swelled.

“I love you too.” The happiness in her voice was one he hadn’t heard from her in years. She hummed a soft tune to him, before he knew it his eyes grew heavy, body curling around her before the world faded to black.

His dreams were full of imagery of snow covered parks, bright concert lights surrounded by fans, small children running around his feet, and a woman wearing the brightest royal blue dress standing with him. An ethereal voice softly spoke to him through the woman.

_"I promise I'll be here until the end, okay? Don't worry about anything, I'm not running away this time."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please leave a kudos, comment, or suggestion. I will update as soon as I can, but I go over a draft many many times before posting so it could be a bit. 
> 
> Tumblr for this fic is here [ Dr. Charlie's Collection of Confessions ](https://doctorcharlieschoen.tumblr.com/). It will include mood boards for chapters, art, and I'm looking into getting Charlie's playlist on Spotify listed. Charlie's reference sheet is up.
> 
> Please give Charlie time to come into character as we're still looking at her through the eyes of someone who is smitten and not seeing everything yet.


	3. Morning Confessions (Dan POV*)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after Dan's confession of love, he and Charlie need to talk about where they stand and what they want to stand for before facing family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is finally here! I've been busy with my business and Inktober. I have so many drawings in relation to this, but none that I can share yet without showing spoilers. Tumblr will be updated with Chapter 3 Aesthetic Board. I also have Charlie's reference sheet on there and I reblog a bit.  
> Tumblr for this fic is here [ Dr. Charlie's Collection of Confessions ](https://doctorcharlieschoen.tumblr.com/)  
> Smut in early to middle of chapter.  
>  _Italics_ are internal thoughts of the POV character.  
>  Chapter 3 Tags: Domestic fluff, Morning After, Handjobs, Showers, Serious Talk.

_"I promise I'll be here until the end, okay? Don't worry about anything, I'm not running away this time."_

Dan was jolted awake by his phone blaring The Hit by TWRP in his ear. He grumbled under his breath feeling around the end table where he could hear the music coming from. His hand smacked his phone’s screen turning off the ringer, but a faint voice came from the speaker instead. Dan pried an eye open to look for his phone properly and answer the call.

“Hello?” His voice came out in a croak; deep, gravelly, and full of sleep.

A gentle loving voice spoke back to him, “Good morning, son. I'm calling to see if you and Charlotte would like to walk over to join us for breakfast in the next hour.” His dearest mother’s voice was full of laughter and joy, if not for the fact that he loved his mother undyingly he would dread the absolute cheerfulness this early in the morning. He pulled his phone back to glance at the time. 7:21am. 

“What makes you think I'm with Charlie, Doobles?” Dan smirked into his pillow at his mother’s audacity to call him out. He lifted his head away from his comfortable spot to glance over at the warm body that was cuddled up against him. Her matted curly hair covered her face, form hidden under the massive amount of blankets she had piled around them, and feet tucked between his legs staying warm. Charlie stirred next to him, her arms encircling his waist, snuggling into him, and Dan felt like his heart would explode in that moment.

“First off, you’re not in your bedroom. Your rental car is out front and I never heard you come back home. Where else could you be? Am I wrong, are you lost in a ditch somewhere? Do I need to come rescue you?”

“No, I’m safe, Deb. No need to save me from a ditch. I’m over here. Don’t tell Avi. He’ll start-“, Dan was cut off as soon as he heard Avi yell to his mother from across the room, “Tell Daaan if they’re not too busy making us grandchildren then they can make it to breakfast.” Dan groaned aloud, which his mother chuckled at . 

“That. He’ll start that. Please don’t bring up that kind of talk this morning. It is too early in all regards for us to have a baby. Let me enjoy this one thing before you two start in on pressuring us. Please for the love of all things holy, let me have this morning.” Dan muttered embarrassed. It never took them long to start in on Dan and Charlie’s future plans if he even spoke of Charlie in an affectionate manner. _Nope, too early in the morning for that sort of talk. Not happening._

“Who’s having a baby?” Charlie’s voice groaned from his side, her breath tickled his bare skin.

“Supposedly us.” Dan whispered down at her, “Don’t worry about it. I told them to calm that sort of talk down.” He heard his mother talking to Dana in the background no longer listening to the phone. He anxiously waited for a reply from Charlie as the topic of children with him had been a sore subject for the both of them for the last decade. 

“Oh… Tell your parents to give me a couple of months and then I'll get on that.” He looked down to see Charlie smirking from under his arm. _Say what?_ That was not the reaction he expected at all. 

“Don’t encourage them, baby. They’ll never quit asking if you fuel their harassment.” Dan scolded her playfully trying to not trip up on his confusion. _Thank God for improv._ His mother’s laugh could be heard from a few inches away from the receiver. “Give us a bit to get up please and we’ll be there for breakfast.”

Debra acknowledged his plead. They exchanged goodbyes, he hit the end call button, and placed his phone back on the table. Charlie slid in to puzzle against his side, one of her hands gliding against his chest and the other working its way into his hair.

“Morning Danny.” She hummed into him. Soft lips pressed into his ribs, a slow breath escaping her. 

“Morning Charlie. Sleep well?” He asked kissing the top of her head. Charlie nodded making an affirmative noise.

“You?” she asked back. He felt her stretch against him, body pulling taut before relaxing.

“Best sleep in a long time. I didn’t realize how fucking tired I’ve been.” Dan answered. He thought about it and didn’t realize how burnt out and exhausted he had been. He had finally felt rested for the first time in months or even years.

“You overwork yourself. Got to rest more, Danny.” She looked up at him fully awake. Her blue eyes sparkled in the morning light, bright, and ready to get the day started.

“Same to you, Doctor. How often would you tell me you hadn’t slept in four days?” he retorted brow raised. 

“I know my faults and accept that I'm an insomniac. I am not very good at being a human, you of all people know my track record with existence.”, She snickered, “We’re two fucked up peas in a pod.” Charlie wasn’t wrong as both of them weren’t the best at keeping themselves healthy or away from work. She ran a hand through her wild matted hair. He imagined his own mane was in the same state. The room was quiet for a moment as Dan pondered everything, enjoying the soft motions of her fingers on his chest. The way her body pressed against his made him feel whole and loved. _Guess I should make sure she was still on the same page as me?_

“So… we still going to give this a try?” Dan nervously asked. He gestured to both of them before dropping the hand to rest above his head. He glanced down to meet her gentle gaze. She sighed and pushed herself up on her elbows to face him. Her shaggy chestnut colored hair fell around her face like a curtain. She brushed her bangs away before speaking.

“Dan, yes, I want to still be with you. Why would I change my mind? I wouldn’t have blown you last night if I didn’t expect us to be together today.” She leaned in to give him a small peck on the lips. He caught her as she pulled back to reign her back in for a deeper kiss. When they pulled away both of them had unabashed smiles on their faces. “I’m not some fucking sadist. I know how you feel about one night stands and I wouldn’t mess with you like that.” She whispered it and when her eyes matched his he felt as if she was glancing into his soul. 

“I.. I don’t know why you would change your mind, but it’s not we have the best track record of admitting feelings. I know you wouldn’t fuck with me like that… I…You… I’m glad you’re up for it. I’m not letting you go this time. You’re stuck with me.” He said it with a joking inflection to his voice, but she would know better than to believe that he wasn’t serious. _Not letting either of them run from it this time._

Charlie huffed to herself, “Don’t plan on leaving, handsome. Now that I'll be living in the same area as you it’ll be easier to work on us.” She leaned over him to lay her cheek against his midsection. Hair fluffed up everywhere. She brushed it out of her eyes again to gaze at him a stoic expression on her face, “Um, hey Dan, I was wondering what am I to you? What will you tell your friends? What do we tell your family?”

Dan quietly kept to himself for a moment. What he wanted to call her wouldn’t be appropriate in most conversations. “Can’t I just introduce you as my lover? Sweetheart? Significant other? Life partner? Soulmate? Soon to be wife?” He listed off every ridiculous label he could think of getting more and more serious until she glared at him.

“Oh haha, are we getting married now? I'll be sure to remember that the next time your parents ask.” She threw herself over him, a oof released from his chest as she laid on him.

“Don’t enable them, Charlie. They have enough shit to use against us for years to come. I…I am not trying to get a head of myself, but calling you my girlfriend after all we’ve gone through sounds childish. Not that having a girlfriend isn’t serious. I don’t feel like that suits you or us. Maybe it does. I don’t fucking know anymore. ” He exploded into laughter as her fingers tickled his side. “Oh stop. Stop!” She released him to smile back.

“Then tell them I'm your partner or significant other. Whatever you want to call me. Girlfriend, lover, blah blah blah. As long as we know what we are to each other it’s fine. You’re my Dan and I'm your Charlie so there you go. We’re exactly as we were yesterday or ten years in the past or even twenty years ago. Best friends whom happen to be romantically and sexually involved, right?”

”Right…Totally. You’re exactly like you’ve always been… you’ve got some more confidence in you though.”

Charlie laughed, “Yeah, that’s true, but you’re a lot more forward and confident as well. I used to have to instigate anything between us over the last twenty years so I'm glad you’re taking over that role. I think you getting out there musically and socially has helped you come out of your shell so to speak.” 

Dan shrugged as much as he could laying down, and winked at her. “Hey, baby girl, I'm here to please you.” Charlie rolled her eyes at that, but leaned towards him to place a quick peck on the tip of his nose. Becoming Danny Sexbang had helped his confidence and charisma with women over the last few years. He never expected to gain anything from his persona, but it was a pro that outweighed the cons that came with the territory of having an alter ego. The only downside when it came to Charlie was she never reacted to his flirting quite like he hoped. _At least she knows and loves me for who I am._

Charlie slid over him to jump out of bed, she stood at the edge holding a hand out. “Hey, do you want to shower before we head over or are you good? I’m going to go take one. Those twenty four hour shifts make me pretty gross the morning after.” She wrinkled her nose as she said gross. Small lines crinkled around her eyes as she smiled.

“Uh… yeah, sure. Meet you in there?” Dan asked with a slight hopeful inflection in his voice. He waggled his scarred brow at her. Charlie giggled softly, shaking her head in exasperation, curls bouncing around her face. 

”Ha ha. Are you trying to get in my pants, Dan Avidan?” She glided over to the bed to lean over him, hands placed on either side of his head. It was her turn to wag her eyebrows back. 

”Maybe…” he whispered softly. Her face was mere inches apart from his with her bare chest pressed into his. He wasn’t exactly planning on trying to sleep with her this early in the morning, but if she was offering. _It would be rude to refuse._

Charlie squinted at him, hands furling into the pillow behind his head, a mischievous grin growing on her face. “Do you have any condoms?” 

”Uh…No. You?” _Shit._ Those were not things that he planned on bringing with him on this trip. It wasn’t that he didn’t think about it, but he wanted to make sure they even became a couple before buying protection. In this moment, he regretted his cautious nature when it came to wooing Charlie. 

“No. I never had any need to buy them. Men usually aren’t the types coming home with me.” Charlie shrugged nonchalantly throwing him a wink. _Charlie and her love for women._ She was honest about her activities he would give her that. “Plus I think the last time I had to buy some was when you stayed the night four years ago and they do expire. I’m not going to risk that right now.” 

”Yeah, no, I get that. Good plan to not risk pregnancy right now. It would be super embarrassing if we had to tell my parents in a few weeks that a grandchild was made after all. I’ll go pick some up later.” It was unfathomable to even comprehend what that type of conversation with his parents would be like or even with all of his friends in L.A. _So yeah, got Charlie to date me, also knocked her up in the process. You know, it was a normal reunion._ Charlie nodded along as he spoke. ”G- rated shower?”, Dan asked jokingly. 

”Maybe.” Charlie pulled away from him walking towards her bathroom, “But seriously, I mean, can you even label any shower with us G-rated?” 

“That’s true. Knowing us it’ll like end up R rated regardless.” 

He watched her disappear into the adjoining room, lights pouring from the doorway, door open, and the sound of the shower being turned on. It was a cold morning, the crisp air nipped at his skin as he pulled back the pile of warm bedding from himself. It made him clench his teeth uncomfortably, muscles pulling taut as he pulled himself off of the inviting bed to rush towards the bathroom. Thankfully, the bathroom was already as mildly warm as a sauna he hurried in, closing the door behind him. Maybe that would keep the cold away. A snicker was heard from across the small room. He glanced over to see Charlie standing in front of her glass shower, already bare to the world as she waited for him. Dan felt his heart speed up as he slowly studied her. Despite the fact that he had seen her naked hundreds of times before he never got to spend a moment to gaze over ever part of her. It was something special to see Charlie so vulnerable and open. Her hair stuck up wildly as always, cheeks dusted pink as she kept eye contact with him, plush lips turned up in a smirk, slender neck and collarbone covered in red and purple marks from his teasing last night. Her slender shoulders dipped down to follow her arms crossed under her breasts. Round supple breasts were pushed up by her arms and shared the same red marks as her chest. He trailed down to her soft stomach, which in his opinion was the best place for him to rest his tired head or hands. He traced her filled out hips south towards her muscular thighs. Her thighs met at a sensual place he wished he could have had a chance to explore the night before. He always joked with her that he could tell if she was seeing someone new by how well she kept up her grooming habits. It wasn’t that her having hair anywhere bothered him at all, but she had a specific routine when she was seeing the ladies. It was only when they saw each other that she kept herself natural. He would never judge her for her being herself and he guessed that must the reasoning behind her habits. _Trust._ Charlie cleared her throat to gain his attention back up meeting her eyes. 

“See something you like, Danny?” She repeated that line every time she would catch him watching her and he would always respond back teasing, “Maybe.” 

“Well then hurry up. It’s colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra today and I would rather be in the warm water than standing out here.” Her usage of the strange idiom left a confused expression on his face and a laugh bubbling up from his chest. “What? Have you never heard that before? Maybe it’s just a German witch thing my Oma would say…” She joined in laughing with him. 

“No! I’ve never heard that before, but now you’ve given me a new phrase to add to my vernacular. I’ll be sure to use it as much as possible.” He joked at her, sauntering over while slowly pulling his boxers down. It was Charlie’s turn to eye him a cat like grin on her lips. Her fingertips lightly grazed over his chest before she slid the shower door open to step in and wait for him. He kicked his boxers aside, followed her into the wonderful warm shower. The hot water wasn’t scalding as he feared subconsciously. Previous girlfriends would burn the shit out of themselves and he did not want any part of boiling red pain as he started his day. 

“Is the water okay? I made sure to not set it too high since I don’t want you overheating on me. I mean, I can cool you down and help if you do get sick, but at least warn me before you get to that point. I would rather you stay as healthy and at a moderately decent body temperature range as much as possible, Dan.” Charlie leaned into him so that he could hear her explain her worries for his wellbeing. She had always made sure to take care of him and his nonfunctioning sweat glands. Cold water was always provided after any physical activity between them, she kept ice packs in her freezer for hot summer adventures, and carried a parasol on bright days. The effort she put in to watch over him melted his heart. It made him realize how much she consistently put into their relationship over the years whether as a friend or lover.

“I’m good, baby. Thanks for considering it though. Sometime I forget myself and end up fucked.” He leaned down towards her, water raining down upon their heads, soaking their hair and bodies. He could hear Charlie suck in air at his statement, a rant probably coming to scold him for being so risky, but it never happened. She only stared at him, a small concerned smile on her face. 

“I trust that you can take care of yourself. Just… tell me if you need anything, okay? I don’t want to be that nagging girlfriend. You’re an adult and can manage, right?”

“Right.” _Well, that’s new._

Dan stood there still, slightly surprised at Charlie’s lack of scolding. They both had done some growing up and rebuilding of trust in the last decade he guessed. The ambiance of the shower calmed down feeling more and more like the similar warmth he experienced when he was wrapped up in her arms, or cuddled up in a blanket on the couch with her, or together in bed in a blanket burrito. Soft hands broke him out of his thoughts as they rubbed circles into his chest. He gazed down to see Charlie washing him, bubbles of soap building up all over his lithe body. He raised a brow at her, smirking at the gesture. He could hear her grumble something about just getting the shower over with so they could go eat and he was too slow. She continued as he never said anything back, hands and soap gliding over his arms, pectorals, abdominals, and down around his sharp hips. Dan jumped and swore in surprise as she grazed over a semi-hard Excalibur. 

“Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to. Sorry!” She apologized rapidly thinking that she hurt him.

Dan burst out in laughter at her panic, and pulled her in for a hug, wrapping his arms around her. “It’s okay, Charlie! You just scared me. It’s not that often that I have someone reaching down there… like it’s been a while since anyone has grabbed me. You going down last night was a much wanted and totally needed moment.” 

“Oh. GOOD. I was worried I like nicked you or something. I don’t even have long nails, but you know that doesn’t mean I can’t tear some poor body part up. I did not want to start this morning tarnishing your sword and limiting any further usage in the near future.” Charlie hid her face in her hands and peered at him from between fingers and wet hair. “That would just be my fucking luck. Finally get back with Dan Avidan and mess up our chances at boning.” 

“Did you say boning?” Dan asked her genuinely amused at her strange word choices. Well, it was strange to come from her mouth. 

“I’ve been listening to you and Arin talk too much. I’ve been picking up this weird shit and I don’t know how to talk like a normal fucking human being anymore. So, yeah, thank you for turning my once sophisticated grammar and vernacular into Sexbangese.” Charlie laid her head against his slick chest. _Sexbangese…_ He would have to remember that for a NSP idea. 

Dan chuckled at her outburst, offered to help her wash up as well. Charlie agreed with a nod, handing him the bottle of body wash she had available. A large amount of goopy soap was poured into his hand before he reached over to rub it into her shoulders, and down onto her chest. Curious eyes followed his every movement as he helped her suds up. A small gasp escaped her lips once he slipped his hands over her back to grope her butt for a moment. He giggled to himself, payback for her grabbing his last night. Charlie leaned into him as she grabbed the shampoo from the corner. She offered it to him, poured it into his palm and he reached a hand up to massage her scalp. The soft motion left her breathless, head leaning back slightly, and lips opening to release a small moan. He continued and watched her react as his other hand slid down her side to grip her soft hip. He rubbed his fingers in circles against her skin only ending up with her pushing herself flush against him in response. 

“Danny.” His name escaped her lips in a warning tone, “What are you doing?”

“Only trying to help you relax. You’re the one moaning and grinding into me.” He snickered at her only to receive a glare back from behind her hands. “What do you want me to do to, Charlie?” 

“That’s a dangerous question there, Daniel.” Her hands moved to wrap around his trunk and traced down his back in a slow motion. Her hips pressed against his, leading to him trying to ignore the hardening of his dick that would soon be pressing back against her. She tilted her head up to place kisses against his neck and a small bite nipped at his collarbone like he did to hers. Dan groaned as more nips and kisses littered his neck and chest. Before they knew it he had moved to back her up against the shower wall, cold tiles meeting her skin making her gasp, flesh still melding against flesh. The warm water poured down his back and the cold tiles radiated a frost on his front mixing the sensations. Dan lifted a knee up to grind against her groin leaving her panting and rubbing back against his leg. A slick wetness spread over his knee and he knew Charlie was going to be close to asking him to touch her in all of the ways he had been dreaming about for months. Their eyes met, hers darkened by lust and his matching her in intensity. 

“I was looking forward to and dreading us getting to this point this morning especially since we still have breakfast to get it to, but shit, I need to get off. I need a fucking release before I explode. I could always do it myself, but I would rather ask you to be the one to touch me since you’re here…If you want to, of course.” Charlie whispered into his ear. Goosebumps raising on his forearms and neck at her tone. _Gladly._

“What do you want me to do to you, Charlotte? I can’t help you if you don’t ask.” Dan teased her. He enjoyed getting her beg. Charlie would joke he had dominatrix traits like her, but he would deny it every time she mentioned it. She was the one who took control in relationships, not him. _Right? Right…_

A guttural growl-like groan came from Charlie as she scowled at Dan for telling her to ask. She glared at him before glancing down in embarrassment, her cheeks turning a dark red, and biting down on her lower lip. “Uh… Will you please get me off? Touch me? Please?” she whispered it so quietly he almost didn’t hear it over the roar of the water. 

_YES. Stay calm. Stay smooth. It’s not the first time you’ve touched someone. It’s only Charlie asking you._ “Yes, yes, I can do that for you.” He smiled down at her with the biggest smug grin he could muster. 

“…I’m not sure if I should let you with that kind of ego.” Charlie joked and winked at him, but her expression contorted into one of pleasure as soon as he slid his long fingers down towards her nether region. “Okay. Okay. I yield. Please continue.” 

“You sure, baby girl? You were about to change your mind there.” Dan taunted. Her hands reached out to grip his forearms as he slipped a curious phalange into her slick folds. He watched her mouth ‘Oh fuck’ before peering up at him to speak, “You’ve become a tease. I love it. Oh fuck do I love this.” Dan enjoyed messing with her just as much as she messed with him. A slow pace was established as he rubbed small circles against her. Charlie’s grip on his arms tightened, a shaky breath exhaling against his neck, body tensing up as he continued to work her with his rhythmic touch. Expletives escaped Charlie’s lips as he slid his thumb up to rub against her clit. 

“Charlie, hey, you’re going to have to let go of my arms if you want me to continue. As much as I love your reactions you’re cutting off blood supply.” Dan warned her and sighed when she released her vice grip on him. Her hands moved to around his shoulders instead, a hold on him, but no longer risking numbing his limbs in the already slick shower. 

“So sorry. Sorry. It’s been a while since anyone had been down there for me as well. I’m- I’m… shit… Hnghh… What was I saying? You’re distracting me.” Charlie barely got her words out between breaths. 

“You’re good. Enjoying yourself, eh?” Dan replied back ignoring the daggers she threw with her gaze. “ Come on, let me have some fun with you. It’s not every day Charlotte Schön lets me finger her.” He could feel her nails dig into his bare shoulders as he slipped one of his digits into her. 

“It can be your everyday once I move closer.” Charlie smirked. _Good one._

“Touché. You have me there.” 

As he slipped the second finger inside, he noticed her legs start to shake uncontrollably, body tense, hips jerking towards his hands as she gave into what she was feeling. A shot of arousal pulled at his own gut as he watched her react to his touch, each gasp, pant, and moan fueled his own wants. _Goddammit. Worst idea ever to not be prepared._ Dan was brought back to the present from his hazy fantasies as he heard her muttering to him. 

“I-I… I’m so close. Please. Dan-Danny.” She pleaded at him. He leaned forward pressing her against the wall, Excalibur at the ready, lips meeting hers in a frantic fervor. 

“Then come for me, Charlotte. I want to watch you fall apart. I’ve got you.” Dan whispered into her ear, ready for her to melt into his hands. Nothing was more satisfying than watching his partners unravel by his own hands. Charlie’s eyes squeezed shut, head tilted back against the tile, and mouth agape as she came against his hand. Fingers continued to work her until her last spasm had her laying against him, out of breath, and eyes fluttering. 

“Okay, okay. I’m thoroughly satisfied.” Charlie tapped on his chest asking him to stop. Dan removed himself from her only to place his hands around her hips. “When did you get good at that?”

A chuckle bubbled up from Dan. Oh, how he wished all the other girls in his life thought that about him. It was just that he knew how Charlie was and still remembered the small motions she liked. It probably helped that both of them were touch starved after so many months of not having anyone around to receive said affections. “Oh, I hear that… never. I’m glad to be of some service and help blow your mind.” He pulled back away from her to stand back in the lukewarm shower. The tiles were starting to freeze his toes and he couldn’t imagine how cold she was currently. He opened up his arms to welcome her back into the warmth. It took only a moment before she wobbled over, arms wrapping around his shoulders, his around her waist, and held each other close. Charlie glanced down , only to look back up at him with a sheepish grin plastered on her face. 

“Want me to help you with that?” Dan shuddered as her hand travelled south to ghost over his erection. 

”Nope. I’m good. Not for lack of wanting you to, but I’m not one for standing up jacking it unless I’m feeling adventurous. I’m not planning on dying today.” Dan shook his head no quickly. He did not want to get weak knees in Charlie’s shower and fall hurting himself before they could finally get a proper night together. He also would rather go to the Live show without any injuries that could be questioned by the audience. That would be something he would never be able to live down.

”Oh yeah, I forgot you fall apart when you cum. I remember that now… Like the time you sprained your wrist and ankle in your junior year of high school.” Charlie removed her hand from his lower abdomen, linking them behind his head instead. 

”HEY. We don’t talk about that. Or the other times I’ve injured myself jacking it.” Dan wished he was joking, but it had happened a lot when he was a late teenager. 

Charlie smiled sympathetically at him. “Okay, okay. We won’t talk about how often you hurt yourself by fucking yourself. I mean… I did stupid shit too. Remember how I broke my ankle in my sophomore year? I forgot that I had tied myself to the bed post and tried to walk away snapping it. Yes, that’s how that happened. I see you judging me. You know what I do to people.” 

He wasn’t sure he could ever forget Charlie’s strange hobbies. _Maybe she could try on me again. No. Nope, not going there after the first and only time._

“So… If you’re good, I’m going to rinse my hair and get ready for the day. I’m pretty sure we’re late to breakfast already.” Charlie looked up into the water, closing her eyes, and scrubbing her hair until the bubbles washed away. Dan followed suit, waiting until she exited the shower to turn the water to a blasting cold for moment to hopefully cool down his libido. _Oh it was cold. Way too cold. Good? No? Maybe a few seconds more… Good? Okay._ When he was able to calm down and exit the shower, he was freezing and shaking uncontrollably. The cold air hit him hard, teeth chattering in response to the horrid stimuli. _That was not a good idea at all. Very, very dumb idea._ He questioned every decision he made there until a hot cream towel was thrown over his head. Dan peeked from behind it to see Charlie shaking her head at him, a matching towel wrapped around her, her hair being brushed out. 

” Jesus, Dan. I didn’t know you were that bad off. Do you need some help warming up over there?” She side eyed him from her sink, brow raised and a smirk growing on her face. 

”Nah. I’m good, baby. You’ll only make it worse if you touch me again.” He replied back, taking the towel and rubbing his hair dry. 

”Your choice. I’m not going to baby you if you make yourself sick from risking your body temperature… I mean, I’ll still take care of you as it’s my job as a doctor, but I’ll scold you the whole time.” 

”Yes, ma’am.” 

”No. No ma’aming me. I get enough that shit from work. I am not at work anymore so being polite can fuck off.” 

Dan finished drying himself off to walk over to her area, picked up a spare brush and attempted to detangle his mane. “Do you not like being talked to like a professional adult?”

Charlie scoffed audibly. “Ugh, I hate it. Do you enjoy being called Sir or Mr. Avidan?” 

”Uh no. It makes me sound like Avi. I mean I’m getting up there in age, but Sir doesn’t feel right at all.” Dan stated.

”Yeah, I know. I hate it too. Being called Doctor I can stand. It’s my job, but ma’am and Ms. Schön doesn’t fit. Then I get why I’m not a Missus yet talk all the fucking time. Yes, I know I’m not married at 36, you don’t have to bring it up every single time you talk to me, Mr. Director of the Board. You’re not Judith Stein from next door that harasses me for being a single lesbian every chance she gets. Have you married that Avidan boy yet? You two should get back together and then maybe you can leave your sinful life behind. You would be lucky if such a man would accept you. You know I hear he’s single again. Blah blah blah... Sorry, I’m finally going to get away from our lovely, but very intrusive neighbors for once and I’m so happy about it.” Charlie ranted, each sentence was said in a more angry tone as she went on, but a sigh escaped her lips, deep breath taken before she apologized for letting her emotions slip up. 

“You know you can rant to me anytime, right? I don’t mind listening to you get upset about life, you’re human like everyone else. Do you think I don’t get angry?”

“What? No. I know you get upset. You’ve got great patience. I usually do, but now that I’m getting away from some of the suffocating bullshit around here I don’t care about censoring my thoughts anymore. I’m trying to leave some tact though and work on not making Mrs. Stein cry.” 

“Does the whole neighborhood think that about us?” Dan asked softly, wrapping his warm towel around his midsection. His hair was a lot drier than before, but wasn’t going to be completely dry until he used a dryer or let it air out. The whole neighborhood had seen Charlie and Dan grow up from babies. They watched them go from innocent children, to rowdy, but kind teenagers, to troublesome young adults, and now back to being the outcast rowdy late thirty year olds who never learned to grow up. The difference was Charlie became the success story out of all of the kids he grew up around. She set out her goals of being a doctor and achieved it. She only disappointed them all when she started bringing women home after her and Dan had separated. They never let her forget that she had dated him at some point. 

“…Yeah. They’re a talkative bunch. Mrs. Stein can’t bitch though. Her grandsons are the most spoiled little potheads and I see her bringing Mr. Mertz home some nights. She thinks she’s got me all figured out when I know her game… I’m as bad as them I guess. We can move away, but can’t escape the little old Jewish ladies from gossiping about us.” Charlie looked over at him a saddened expression making its way upon her face. “I guess they’ll all start talking about how you came home with me last night and stayed over. They do watch my guest list since they have nothing else to do with their lives.” 

”Ehh, let them talk about us. We could always give them a show when we go between houses.” Dan suggested wiggling his brow at her and winking with the opposing eye. 

Charlie looked at him incredulous , “Oh, you’re fine with scarring the poor little old ladies in the neighborhood?” 

”Who says we already haven’t with my shenanigans and your scandals over the years?”

”Ooo. Scandals… what could that possibly entail? I don’t think I remember. Please enlighten me on how scandalous I have been over the years.” Charlie finished brushing out her hair, ran her fingers through after dousing them in conditioner, and watched Dan through the mirror.

”Uhh…” _Shit. Think of something._ “How about the time you broke my ex’s nose after she called you a home wrecking whore?” Dan could laugh about it now, but four years ago it was not hilarious to witness his controlling ex try to rip out Charlie’s throat literally. Luckily for him, Charlie had enough patience and tact to only resort to violence once she risked injury herself. And that injury included punching another woman in the face, cracking her nose instantly. Charlie shrugged and smirked to himself. “HEY. I tried to solve the issue peacefully, but she was pretty sure I was feeding you lines into breaking up… when she’s the one that broke your heart. It wasn’t fair that she wanted you to stay in Jersey instead of moving to L.A. back then. Your dreams mattered more than someone holding you back. That’s why I didn’t move away with you.” Dan was silent as he thought about how the biggest scandal of the whole neighborhood was that morning as his ex yelled at Charlie on her own porch. Charlie stood up straight, unmovable, and let her berate her morals and character until the Ex started in on Dan’s character. Then it was the end of nice Charlotte Schön. Charlie swiftly spoke back to her with such vitriol and hatred that he was scared for all of their safety. 

“You didn’t have to tell her you fucked me all night long though.” Dan remembered the absolute cold water feeling that rushed over him as she said that aloud. The neighbors were all out on their porches watching, his family included while he stood behind her after exiting from her house in only boxers. His Mom had cheered from their porch and a few of the neighboring teenagers encouraged Charlie to ‘rip her apart’ as they said. 

Charlie looked over at him from her spot, held her palms up while shrugging, “It’s not like it wasn’t true. I regret it… only a small bit. I wish the neighborhood hadn’t all been out for that. But it did give me more of the badass reputation with the kids. Your family thought it was funny. You can probably imagine how often Avi brings it up to me.” Charlie put on her best Avi impression, “So Charlotte, you ehhh… assault any more girls that Dan’s dated?” 

“No. He does not.” Dan gasped back incredulous. “I can’t believe he would say that to you.”

”Eh. We get along, Avi and I. I know he means no harm by it. He’s mostly trying to convince me that I wouldn’t need to vet your girlfriends if I took that spot. Guess he was right after all.” 

They stood there silent for a moment more before Charlie started walking towards the door, “I’m going to go get dressed. Need anything?”

“Nah. I’m good. Thank you though. I’ll be out in a second.” Dan waved her away and she blew him a kiss from her spot before walking out. Once again Dan met his own reflection in Charlie’s mirror. This was turning out to be a great morning after. He had experienced much worse mornings with people he thought that he had loved. There had been mornings between him and Charlie that were absolutely heart wrenching. The last one he could remember like that was that same morning they had been the talk of the neighborhood as his ex-girlfriend woke them up, banging on Charlie’s door, yelling that she had ruined them when it was the furthest thing from the truth. Charlotte Schön had put up with more bullshit caused by him than he thought that she ever should have. _Support was all a part of being in love with someone, wasn’t it?_ Support was all he could ever hope to give her as she needed it just as much as he needed it. She never admitted it to him, but he knew that she was alone here. His family was around, but they were too biased when it came to helping her with anything emotional. He hoped her move would give her a chance to find more supportive friends, and a strong support system like he now had built up in L.A. Dan looked away from his own gaze as he heard Charlie calling out to him. 

“Deb texted that breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes ten minutes ago. So we’ve still got twenty until we have to run over there. God, they probably are sitting there wondering what we are doing.” Charlie’s voice echoed from her room through the door. Dan finished with his hair, grabbed his boxers, and headed back into the cold abyss that was her room. The cold air didn’t hit him as hard as he imagined it would as Charlie had turned on her furnace. She was standing in front of her closet, turning back and forth looking at herself in a tall mirror. Her eyes met his gaze as he returned to her personal space. He smiled brightly once he got a good look at her clothing. She wore a light lavender pastel sweater with tiny pastel dinosaur shapes covering it, dark blue jeans, and bright orange spotted socks. 

“I don’t usually ask anyone this, but do I look okay? Not a mess?” Her voice was higher pitched as she shyly asked him his opinion. Dan walked over to her, threw an arm around her shoulder, and met her mirror self’s eyes. 

“I think you’re as beautiful as always.” His hand ruffled her hair tousling her curls. She scoffed, but kissed his cheek in return. “Thank you.” She whispered back. He observed her through the mirror as she ogled him with a look he hadn’t seen from her in many, many years. When standing next to each other barefoot, Charlie stood only a few inches shorter than him. It was strange to be next to someone his own height range compared to all of the shorter women he had dated. Her height helped his back problems for sure. No longer needing to strain while kissing her. Charlie nervously fiddled with the edge of her sweater. He peered down at it, rubbing his hand against the silky soft texture of the garment, and he noticed a familiar shape of his favorite dinosaur. 

“This is insanely soft and I love the stegosaur on it. This is an awesome sweater.” 

“Oh, thank you. I got it recently from Hot Topic. I love it. It doesn’t have my favorite dinosaur on it, but it keeps me warm so it balances itself out.” She snickered. 

“ Your favorite. It’s uhh… compys right? Those little ones?” Dan’s brows furrowed together as he tried his best to remember. He was pretty sure she was the one to always gush about how she would have a pack of compys if she could when they were teenagers after Jurassic Park came out. 

“Ha! Exactly. The Compsognathus. I’m amazed you remembered that. Yes, I love those little carnivores. I have like a million on my game I play. I’ll have to show you sometime.” Charlie smiled up at him, teeth actually being shown in her smile. He hadn’t seen her give such big smile in a long time as well. Charlie looked him up and down, pink flushing her face, “Oh shit. I bet you’re freezing. Get under the covers and I'll grab your clothes from downstairs.” She told him and rushed out of the room.

Dan didn’t blame her for rushing around nervously. Them having breakfast with his parents after him spending the night meant a lot of awkward glances and questions. Dana for sure would be asking him for details later and he wasn’t going to forget the whole making grandchildren comment anytime soon. He walked over to her bed, threw himself down upon it and looked up at the ceiling. Twinkling white star like lights glittered overhead. How had he not seen those the night before? He sat up on his elbows to take in the room he had spent most of his life visiting. It was so dark previously he hadn’t paid attention to what was in there. He had to admit Charlie’s bedroom was the same as it was when they were in high school. Musical, anime, and movie posters littered the walls. There was a wide various array of designs and most of them known to him. One in particular caught his eye and he grinned widely when he saw it. Above her bed was one of the oldest Ninja Sex Party posters that they had made. It was cheesy, stupid, and he worked so hard on it. He fondly remembered how proud he was to show it off and gave Charlie the first copy outside of his parents’. Next to it was a Game Grumps poster from a charity of years past, then an Attitude City poster from the album. Dan grabbed his phone from the end table, pulled up the camera, and took a picture. Brian would get a kick out of how much Charlie loved them. Dan was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Charlie call up the stairs, “Hey Dan. Something small fell out of your jacket. I promise I’ll find it. What am I looking for?”

_FUCK._

Dan threw his phone down, jumped out of the bed, past the door, and down the stairs until he met her at the base of the steps, all of his clothes in her arms, and a confused look on her face. She twisted her body to face him and held out her hand.

“So…Nice ring?” Charlie turned her hand over to show off Mom's engagement ring off held up in between her index and thumb. He nervously met her eyes and she had a brow raised and a smirk on her lips. Dan reached out to take it from her, but she quickly pulled it close to her heart and eyed his questioningly.

“It’s not what it looks like, I promise.” He sputtered out the first thing he could think of, which most likely was not a good thing to say either.

“So it’s not an engagement ring?” She questioned handing him his clothing. Her hands went to her hips. Dan could feel the heat rising to his face at the ridiculous situation. He stood before her in a towel, holding his clothes, while she held a ring that was, but wasn’t for her.

“It is. But not for right now. As much as I would love for it to be right now, I don’t think us getting engaged before you move to L.A. would be a smart idea.” He blurted out as much as fast as he could. Charlie turned bright red at his bluntness, looked down at the ring in her palm, and shuffled away to sit down on her couch.

“I…I..I would probably panic if you proposed to me during this trip before I move. And to think I was worried that blowing you last night would be us moving too fast, but nope, I think I found something else.” She laughed anxiously, holding up the ring, only to frown at him and it. 

“How about you forget you saw this and I'll save it for another time? Please? I want us to get to that point eventually, but not right now no matter how much Mom begs me. Just forget you even found it. I have no ring on me. Please.” He begged her, his voice raising in desperation. _Did he just mess all of their progress up?_ Charlie patted at the spot next to her on the couch. He carried his clothes with him as he sat down inches away from her. Her free hand met his thigh and she peered into his eyes, a small smile forming.

“Sure, Dan. I can do that. But you do get why us being engaged right now wouldn’t work… right?” She asked him with a hopeful inflection. Of course, he understood why it wouldn’t work out realistically no matter how much he dreamed of her being his bride over the years. They needed time. 

“Yeah, sure. I do. You and I need still need time to work out the kinks in our relationship. Just because I would like to be with you doesn’t mean we need to push legal binding contracts.” He heard Charlie snort at the word kink. 

“That and making babies. No can do right now.”

“Whoa, what about us making babies? Who said that?” Dan exclaimed pretending to be shocked at her words when he knew what she was talking about. 

“Well, it’s what your parents think we’re doing right now.”, Charlie winked at him. “Yeah, I don’t think I can even fathom that right now. They of all people should know how I feel when they tease us about it.”

“You just have to remind them.” Dan wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leaning into her, his head resting against hers. “Plus I get their excitement. We would have some cute kids.” Charlie side glared at him from her spot, but rolled her eyes in the end and sighed. 

”I know, but I still need to move, and we need to see if we can even live together. Not that I’m moving in with you.” Charlie stopped talking as she saw his face fall at that statement, “… What? Did you think I’m moving in with you as soon as I get into L.A.?” 

“ Well, Barry is moving out and…” Dan was cut of by Charlie raising her hand.

“Hey, I don’t want to cut you short, but can we talk moving logistics tonight after we deal with breakfast and family? I want to have this conversation, but it feels like it would be a lot longer than twenty minutes. I’m so sorry. I… I’m anxious enough with all of this that I want anything serious to not interrupt our day.” She peered at him a sorry expression furrowing her brows together. He got that. It was something a little too real and too fast for either of them at the moment. He leaned towards her to kiss her lips, thanking whatever out there that she was a sensible person and could keep him grounded.

“I can live with that.” He replied removing himself from her, standing up to pull on his ripped blue jeans, and pulled his old Rush T-shirt over his head poofing up his already semi dry fro. Charlie glanced around to make sure there weren’t any open windows in the living room. Luckily, all were darkened by blinds. Charlie eyed him with a smirk, and held out the ring to him. Dan paused at her hand before taking it to pocket it in his pants. She shifted nervously in her spot, opening her mouth to speak, but closed it.

“What’s up?” Dan asked grabbing his white leather jacket from the back of the couch to pull it on.

“I wanted to ask how long you’ve had that ring, but I’m not sure I want some answers related to it.” She replied staring down at her furling hands. 

“Oh.” Dan breathed in deeply before responding, “Well, the first time Mom gave it to me was when I was 18.” 

Charlie’s head snapped up to meet his serious gaze. “18? You were going to propose to me at 18?” 

“Well, no. When you turned 18 the next year, but I chickened out. I had already moved out to Boston for school and you were here. I thought it would have like been better to wait. I gave it back to Mom at 23 after I got back from France and you and I had already separated. She gave it back to me one other time in 2006, but you know how that reunion turned out. I returned it once again until she gave it back to me last night. It was her ring that Pops gave her. She wanted it to be passed down.” Dan shrugged as he explained the history of his failed attempts to propose to her. 

“ Have you attempted to give it to anyone other than me?” Charlie kept her eyes on the floor as she asked it.

“No.” It was Dan’s turn to shift uncomfortably in place. “No one else had made it that far. I thought about it with that one girl around 2005, but I wouldn’t had used Mom’s ring. She specifically told me I could only have it for you. You know how stubborn she gets.” Charlie snorted at that, finally gazing up at him, and stood up matching him in height. 

“I love you, Leigh Daniel Avidan. You’re such a hopeless romantic.” 

“Love you too, Charlotte Marta Schön. You’re such a hard one to romance, you know that? You don’t fall for the usual wooing that I can do with other women.” Dan pulled her into his space, her hand reaching up to cup his jaw.

“Maybe it’s because I use the same tactics when I romance women. I don’t really know how to properly ‘date’. You make it easy. We do what we always did. Get some sushi, watch a movie, hang out around the house in blanket forts, and just enjoy the simplicity of being together. It doesn’t take much to make me happy.” Charlie grinned at him. She was easy to please in theory, but it was more of a him issue with trying to impress her than a her not being impressed issue. 

“Can we make a blanket fort tonight?” Dan asked hopeful. _Blanket forts were the best._

“Of course. Then you can touch me in the fort if you play your cards right.” She teased.

“When do I not? I thought I’ve been very smooth so far.” Dan retorted joking. 

Charlie patted him on his shoulder before removing herself from his space. “Oh, you have been. I just like making you work for it. Forgive me for having fun with it.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to glance at the time. “Five minutes. I’m going to grab my shoes. You got everything?” 

Dan patted his jacket, and pants before remembering that his phone was upstairs.

“I'll be right back. I forgot my phone.” He called to her as he ran back up the old stairs. When he hurried into her room, he threw himself on to the bed and grabbed his phone. It blinked alerting him to new notifications. He slid open his lock screen, and raised a brow at the barrage messages that he received in the last ten minutes. 

Arin Hanson: 8:51: Hey, how did yesterday go?

Arin Hanson: 8:51: Please tell me you and Charlie are together. 

Arin Hanson: 8:52: Oh, maybe you’re asleep.

Arin Hanson: 8:53: BTW you broke reddit. Your confession hit the front page. 

Arin Hanson: 8:53: The gang has been reading it and if you want to do an AMA on there I say go for it. 

Arin Hanson: 8:53: Only if you want to. If it turned out well.

Arin Hanson: 8:55: I guess I’ll hear about it tomorrow. Have a good day, bud. We get in around noon. Meet you at 5pm at the theater?

Dan laughed to himself at Arin’s consistent onslaught of texts. He thought about what to send back to him. _Should I tell him that it all worked out swimmingly or surprise them with her tomorrow?_ He pondered it before responding back. 

Dan Avidan: 8:57: Hey, yeah, I’ll see you there at 5pm. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. 

His phone vibrated almost instantly with a response. 

Arin Hanson: 8:57: You okay? 

Dan Avidan: 8:58: Yeah. I’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’ll read the Subreddit. Won’t answer questions though. Too soon.

Dan didn’t get a quick response back and pocketed his phone. He rolled over to his back to watch the lights glittering against the black paint of her ceiling. Hopefully Arin and the guys wouldn’t be too upset at him surprising them with Charlie instead of just coming out with it. He wanted to mess with them for once as they always fucked with him. Charlie’s voice broke his thoughts as she called up the stairs.

“Come on Dan! Are you fucking my bed? I swear if you are I'll show you something about fucking when we get back.” Her voice cracked into giggles halfway through the sentence.

“You better show me all you know, girl.” He called back before pulling himself up out of the inviting bed, and headed down the stairs. She stood ready with her jacket and shoes on. Dan hurried to pull his shoes on, tripping over his own feet, and when he reached the door he gave her one last kiss. She linked arms with his and off they went into the cold snowy yard . 


	4. Hiatus and Rework

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Hey Everyone, as of 11/29/17 the first two chapters are going to be going through a major rework. I feel like it could be so much better and I would rather get those fixed before posting the fourth chapter)

Hello Lovelies,

I am currently working on redoing the first two chapters as I'm not satisfied with them and I feel like it could be much more... cohesive. I would rather get that out of the way then post the true fourth chapter and continue from there. 

Thank you for all the kudos and comments. I has kept me writing in my spare time when I'm not busy with work or life. I appreciate it so much. 

Love,

DoctorCharlie

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudo, comment, etc. Thank you for reading! I update as often as I can.  
> 


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